English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 28/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.april28.22.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit
Matthew 28/16-20: “The eleven disciples went to
Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him,
they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have
commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on April 27-28/2022
Israeli PM Applauds Thwarting of Arms Smuggling from South Lebanon, Vows
to Respond
President Aoun discusses financial and administrative reforms with Displaced
Minister, meets Social and Environmental Council delegation, MP Azar,...
Ahmed Hariri criticizes Saniora remarks that
resemble 'anti-Hariri campaigns'
Families of boat victims protest tragedy at Tripoli's port
Nasrallah says Lebanon 'besieged' for supporting Jerusalem
Political party says 'no elections on May 15' as postponement fears grow
Beirut protesters block roads, remove pictures of candidates
KSA, France launch €30 million fund in aid for Lebanon
Lebanon vote holds little hope for change despite disasters
Army liberates two kidnapped men in Baalbek
British helicopter participates alongside the Lebanese Army in search & rescue
operations off Tripoli's coast
Rahi meets new Qatari Ambassador, Lebanese University delegation
Grand Mufti meets Siniora
Geagea: Judiciary, security apparatuses must move quickly to clarify the
circumstances of the Tripoli incident
Makhzoumi: Each parliament member who votes for approving the Capital Control
bill in its current form participates in the crime...
Saudi Arabia, France pledge $30m for Lebanon aid and development
Gasoline prices drop, diesel and gas prices register additional hike
Bou Habib, received European Union’s Special Representative for the Middle East
Peace Process
Frem: Do not lose the compass, bring down the system!
Release/Claude A Hillar Hajjar: I Am Not Anymore Affiliated With The Lebanese
DNA
Dr. Toufic Hindi’s Closing Remarks in the “2022 Conference for a Free Lebanon”,
That Was Held In Washington On April 26/2022
Workers discover ‘unprecedented’ Phoenician necropolis in southern Spain/Sam
Jones/The Guardian.April 27/2022
Can Lebanon be neutral on the Arab-Israeli conflict?/David Daoud/Times Of
Israel/April 27/2022
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 27-28/2022
Israel in deadliest Syria strikes
this year
White House Worried Iran
Could Develop Nuclear Weapon in Weeks
Blinken Sticks to Efforts for Reviving Iran Nuclear Deal
Senior Diplomatic Sources: An Iran Nuclear Deal is Still Possible
Taliban, Tehran to Launch Talks to Contain Border Tensions
Russia cuts gas to Poland, Bulgaria, West
vows arms for Kyiv
EU defies Russia gas
‘blackmail’ as UN chief arrives in Ukraine
Russia declines Germany's ruble payment for gas after cutting off supplies to
Poland and Bulgaria, report says
Russia warns Poland, Bulgaria of gas supply cuts on Wednesday
The 'beginning of the end' for Putin began 'some time ago,' and the Ukraine war
'speeds up his demise,' top Navalny aide says
Erdogan Threatens to Expand Operations Against Kurds in Northern Syria
Sinai Tribes Union Announces Death of Three Terrorists
UN Focuses on Al-Aqsa Mosque’s Sanctity amid Fears of Escalation
UN Invites Syrian Opponents to Constitution Talks on May 28
Canada imposes sanctions on 203 individuals complicit in attempted annexation of
certain areas of Donbass, Ukraine
Titles For The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 27-28/2022
France Is Still in Trouble/Philippe Marlière/The New York Times/April
27/2022
Finland Will Strengthen NATO/Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/April
27/2022
Turkey Escalating Aggression against Greece: 90 Overflights in One Day/Uzay
Bulut/Gatestone Institute/April 27/2022
Ramadan: A Time to Celebrate Murder, Bloodshed, and Slavery?/ Raymond
Ibrahim/April 27/2022
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 27-28/2022
Israeli PM Applauds Thwarting of Arms Smuggling from
South Lebanon, Vows to Respond
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett lauded the Israeli police and army for
their “success in thwarting a smuggling operation on the border with
Lebanon.”“We thwarted an unusual arms smuggling operation on the Lebanese
border… 100 hand grenades were seized, which were intended to be used to carry
out (terrorist) operations... We seized all of them,” Bennett said in a
statement. “We will continue to work until we eradicate the rampant criminal act
in Arab society,” he added. The Israeli army threatened to respond to the
operation, noting that Israel would confront “any attempt to violate its
sovereignty” on the border with Lebanon. Army
spokesman Avichay Adraee, said that the military monitored on Sunday evening
suspects approaching the security fence from Lebanon towards Israeli territory.
Security forces, who monitored the area, detected two pieces of weapons and
about one hundred hand grenades, he noted.
Israeli media quoted Defense Minister Benny Gantz as saying: “The State of
Israel demands the Lebanese government to assume responsibility for what is
happening on its territory.” “If terrorism and violence continue, we will know
how to use the necessary force against the right targets,” he threatened.
Israeli authorities published a report on a network of weapons and drugs
smuggling from southern Lebanon to Palestinian collaborators inside Israel,
claiming that it operates with the knowledge of Hezbollah and the participation
of some of its leading members.
The report revealed that the army and border guards thwarted on Sunday the
smuggling of a large quantity of weapons of 100 grenades and two rifles. The
army said the operation was one of a series of smuggling attempts, which it
claimed to have foiled recently. It added that since the beginning of 2022,
security forces have seized 148 pistols, 23 automatic rifles and other weapons
and drugs, worth millions of dollars. The army added
that it found “multiple evidence” of the involvement of Hezbollah, which
operates through Israeli criminals, to bring weapons into Israeli territory.
Adraee revealed that Hatem Sheet, a resident of Kfarkela, a town along the
Israeli border near Metula, ran drug and weapons smuggling operations from his
home for Hezbollah.
According to the Israeli army spokesman, Sheet coordinates smuggling operations
with Israeli smugglers through a number of applications, including Telegram. The
report went on to say that the smuggler carried out surveillance work from the
balcony of his home in order to gather information about the operations and
movement of Israeli forces in the area. Sheet had a number of operatives who he
sends to throw the drugs or weapons over the border fence. The man purportedly
uses his balcony to serve as a lookout, in order to guide Israeli smugglers to
the location of the contraband and help them avoid Israeli forces, according to
the report. Another smuggler was identified as Hassan Sareini, nicknamed Abu
Muhammad. He is said to be an assistant to the prominent Hezbollah official,
Hajj Khalil Harb, who manages smuggling operations.
Sareini reportedly works with Sheet and other smugglers in southern Lebanon in
order to smuggle weapons and drugs into Israel, according to the army spokesman.
President Aoun discusses financial and administrative
reforms with Displaced Minister, meets Social and Environmental Council
delegation, MP Azar,...
NNA/Wed, April 27, 2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, devoted today’s meetings to
address economic affairs. Emphasis was on the need to address difficult
financial and economic problems as a beginning point for Lebanon’s gradual
recovery, in addition to continuing negotiations with the International Monetary
Fund according to previously agreed principles foremost of which is adoption of
reforms and practical measures.
The President affirmed that he believes in the resurrection of Lebanon, and is
working for this matter, calling for cooperation to reach this end for the
benefit of the Lebanese. President Aoun hoped that the next President of the
Republic will work according to a clear map whose points have been identified.
President Aoun also pointed out that there are those who manipulate financial
issues and the dollar exchange rate, which negatively affects citizens, in light
of “Reports by local and international specialists indicating the presence of
parties whose goal is to exacerbate the situation, including those in a position
of power, and this is what we suffer from”
Displaced Minister:
The President met Minister of the Displaced, Issam Sharaf El-Din, and members of
the National Economy Support Committee, Dr. Paul Morcos and Mr. Hikmat Noueihed.
During the meeting, President Aoun was briefed on a study prepared by the
committee related to financial and administrative reforms and how to reduce
public debt.
Statement:
After the meeting, Minister Sharaf el Din made the following statement:
“We had the honor to visit His Excellency the President of the Republic. We were
accompanied by members of the Committee to Support the National Economy.
This committee was formed in the absence of the Shiite duo when we did not meet
for two months. During this period, we were developing economic studies on
reducing the public debt, which we consider a basic solution.
We dealt with these files in the smallest details and there was a response from
His Excellency the President, especially that this would comfort the citizen.
It is also possible to approve the investment of state assets to reduce the
public debt by 40 billion dollars. There is also an item related to placing
shares for depositors in banks, which could reduce 20 billion dollars of state
debts. We will go into the details of this approach, God willing, more and more.
During the meeting, we also discussed the issue of the return of displaced
Syrians, and we handed His Excellency a file, and God willing, he will follow up
with international references in cooperation with the Prime Minister and the
Council of Ministers.
We also talked about the issue of transforming the Ministry of the Displaced
into a Ministry of Rural Development, which has become a patriotic need which
helps through activities within the ministries to build the nation”.
Questions & Answers:
Question: Did you sense that there is a serious approach to the issue of the
displaced by foreign countries, especially after what happened yesterday in the
Council of Ministers, when the President raised this issue seriously?
Answer: “Of course, His Excellency the President raised this issue yesterday,
and he is presenting a practical and basic project that demands the United
Nations to grant the displaced Syrians their allowances on Syrian lands, and
this is the most important item that was touched upon and it is very valuable,
while giving guarantees from the Syrian side that the return would be safe and
sound”.
President of the Economic Council:
President Aoun received the President of the Economic, Social and Environmental
Council, Charles Arbid, accompanied by a delegation from the Council’s Bureau.
The economic situation and the role that the council plays in finding solutions
to the financial and economic crisis were discussed.
Mr. Arbid had thanked President Aoun for receiving the delegation, and for
signing the law to modernize the Economic and Environmental Council, which has
become effective, “Opening an important door for participation and dialogue
between the productive forces”. Arbid stressed the continuation of work in
everything that would enhance and activate production in Lebanon, placing the
council at the disposal of President Aoun and the Lebanese officials to express
their opinion on all issues of an economic and environmental nature.
Mr. Arbid also raised the issue of liquidity in the Lebanese pound and its
negative impact on the economic situation, especially since the lack of
liquidity limits consumption and demand for local and foreign products, which
means a decline in the general economic situation, which is already suffered
from, calling for activating dialogue in this regard.
Then the head of the General Labor Union, Beshara Al-Asmar, addressed the return
of the workers who were dismissed from the port of Beirut, thanking President
Aoun for his follow-up and sponsorship of this issue, which brought the workers
back to their workplaces.
Al-Asmar pointed out that what was approved for the public sector and the
private sector, has not yet taken its way to implementation, which is a problem
for workers and employees.
Al-Asmar also appealed the President for his patronage and support to establish
a dialogue with economic bodies and the Economic and Social Council to develop
financial and social grants.
The Secretary-General of the General Labor Union, Saad El-Din Hamidi Saqr,
indicated the need to address the shortage of chronic and intractable medicines,
and the suffering of citizens in this area to obtain the medicines they need to
survive.
For his part, Mr. George Nasraoui agreed with Mr. Arbid in stressing the
importance of liquidity in pounds, and focused on what the industry sector
suffers from in the current circumstances that require it to pay high costs to
secure its continuity and meet the conditions set by countries to allow the
export of Lebanese industries.
Mr. Salah El-Din Oseiran, pointed to the danger of commodity price inflation,
which contributes to social instability, which is something that must be taken
into account. Oseiran also focused on how to take advantage of the positive
steps that were recorded, including the signing of a Saudi-French agreement to
support Lebanon yesterday and the need to adopt the necessary steps to advance
negotiations with International Monetary Fund.
Finally, Youssef Bassam touched on the problems faced by the professors and
students of the Lebanese University, and the need to address them, because they
are now threatening their fate on the one hand, and the fate of the university
in general.
President Aoun:
The President welcomed the delegation, and considered that the problems and
difficulties raised by the delegation members can be summed up by the necessity
of having money, noting that there are those who manipulate financial issues and
the dollar exchange rate, which negatively affects the citizens.
Moreover, President Aoun pointed out that this issue is being discussed and
studied by officials who are working to find solutions and on common
denominators with the International Monetary Fund to push the negotiations
forward.
In parallel, the President indicated that this situation throws its weight on
other situations, especially the security situation in which we are witnessing
some unacceptable cases that are taking place, and attacks that warn of fear of
further deterioration, so we gave directions to the security forces to play
their full role and work to limit these violations and attacks.
The President also stressed that work is being done to “Activate issues of
dialogue with the relevant forces to reduce the crisis situation on the one
hand, and to strengthen issues of legislation that would help limit the
financial and economic deterioration, in light of reports by local and
international specialists indicating the existence of parties whose aim is to
aggravate the situation, including those in power, and this is what we suffer
from”.
“I had previously warned against the disadvantages of continuing the rentier
economy, and the financial and economic policy that Lebanon was pursuing before
reaching the tragic situation that we are currently experiencing” President Aoun
said.
On the other hand, President Aoun stressed the financial and economic problems
that the presence of the displaced Syrians on Lebanese soil poses, and that
foreign countries contribute to keeping them in Lebanon by providing them with
money where they are, rather than after their return to their country to help
them restore their lives.
“Alleging that they are awaiting a political solution in Syria, cannot be
accepted in light of the density of population in Lebanon, which has reached 600
people per square kilometer, because the political solution has proven in more
than one country that it is long-term and may not be achieved, similar to what
happened in Cyprus and Palestine. It is necessary to work on the return of the
displaced to Syria, especially since security has become available there” the
President continued.
President Aoun then affirmed that he believes in the resurrection of Lebanon,
and is working for this matter, calling for cooperation to reach this end for
the benefit of the Lebanese.
The President hoped that the next President of the Republic will work according
to a clear map whose points have been identified.
Statement:
After the meeting, Mr. Arbid made the following statement:
“We were honored today to meet His Excellency the President.
We addressed numerous topics, including updating the Law of the Economic, Social
and Environmental Council, and our desire to cooperate more with the three
presidencies, especially with the Council of Ministers, so that we, as an
economic council, can give our opinion on economic and social issues, which are
numerous, in light of the great crisis we are living in.
We also tackled the issue related to the required discussion about laws,
especially with regard to "Capital Control" and others. The discussion on this
issue must be more participatory so that all segments of society can participate
in a subject that concerns all Lebanese, and God willing, this will soon be
opened. The discussion will lead to a solution acceptable to all, and the
legislation will go towards easing this conflict around it.
The issue of liquidity scarcity in the national currency was also addressed. We
consider this issue essential, as what is required is to improve this situation,
because the lack of liquidity means a lack of consumption, which leads to a
scarcity in production, and this directly affects our economy.
The social reality and social changes are basic issues that we are working to
find solutions to. Social affairs are the basis, such as poverty, immigration
and unemployment. This is what concerns us as a social economic council, and we
are ready to cooperate with everyone for the common national interest”.
Questions & Answers:
Regarding the "Capital Control" and the council's opinion in finding an
alternative to it, especially since it was linked to the issue of the financial
recovery plan and the discussion with the World Bank, Arbid pointed out that the
common mistake is to link all these issues together.
“Capital control is one thing, the recovery plan is another, and the projects
proposed for lifting banking secrecy is another. Here we see the lack of a
participatory process and participatory discussion on this subject. Every team
goes in a direction, and there is a clash in politics. We say that we are not
the first country to adopt capital control, knowing that we are late in doing
so, but in order to be able to reach a common formula, we must open discussion
about matters of interest to citizens, their future and the future of their
children, their savings and their money” Arbid said.
“We in the Economic Council have unions, they have compensation funds, and these
unions are also involved in the discussion. And all of this requires a
participatory process of discussion in depth and frankly between each other, and
this is what we strive for, and God willing, soon there will be space for this
discussion and we will raise several proposals to the Representatives and to the
Speaker of Parliament in order to reach a process that is closer to something
acceptable to everyone, especially if we talk to each other calmly and away from
politics. Let them leave politics to the politicians, but the people’s affairs
and their sorrows are for us the most important” Arbid concluded.
MP Azar:
President Aoun received MP Roger Azar and discussed with him current political
situation and recent developments. MP Azar pointed to the need to issue
organizational decrees for the law establishing the Kesrouan Governorate, Jbeil,
which was approved by the Parliament since 2017, and the decrees have not been
issued to date.
“The people of Kesrouan and Jbeil are wondering about the reasons that prevent
the adoption of these decrees, especially since the current economic and
financial conditions have imposed a reduction in the cost of citizens’
transportation to the Governorate of Mount Lebanon in Baabda to complete their
transactions” MP Azar said.
“I discussed with His Excellency the necessity of completing the implementation
of the development projects that work began on years ago, and completion was
delayed, most notably the port of Jounieh, and the need to speed up its
completion before the onset of winter” MP Azar concluded.
Former Minister Sarraf:
The President met former Minister Yaacoub Al-Sarraf and discussed with him the
situation in Tripoli and the north after the recent developments. The reform
plan prepared by the government was addressed in the meeting, as well as
development projects in the Akkar region, most notably the military hospital
project in Halba, and the exclusive economic zone. -- Presidency Press
OfficeGunfire from Syria targets Lebanese army after IS-linked fugitive killed
Naharnet/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
A Lebanese Army post in the Wadi Khaled border town of al-Majdal was on
Wednesday targeted by heavy gunfire from the Syrian town of al-Maajir, al-Jadeed
TV said, after an Islamic State-linked fugitive was killed earlier in the day by
Lebanese military intelligence agents. “The sound of gunfire is echoing across
Wadi Khaled’s villages and towns,” al-Jadeed added. The army had earlier on
Wednesday announced that the fugitive was shot dead by the patrol in Wadi Khaled
after he tried to run over its members with his car. The slain man was wanted
for “smuggling arms and explosives to the terrorist Daesh organization,” an army
statement said.
Ahmed Hariri criticizes Saniora remarks that resemble
'anti-Hariri campaigns'
Naharnet/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
Al-Mustaqbal Movement Secretary-General Ahmed Hariri on Tuesday criticized
remarks voiced by ex-PM Fouad Saniora, who is backing an electoral list in
Beirut’s second electoral district. “Your love and keenness on al-Mustaqbal
Movement are not new, but the return to evaluating ex-PM Saad Hariri’s decision
to suspend participation in elections as being part of the handover of the
country to Hizbullah and Iran is something that resembles that campaigns
targeted against our Movement and its leader,” Ahmed Hariri tweeted. “Our
decision is to suspend participation and your decision along with those who are
with you is to take part in the elections, and there is no need to pin the blame
on anyone although we wish you success,” Hariri added.
Families of boat victims protest tragedy at Tripoli's port
Naharnet/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
The families of the capsized boat victims rallied Wednesday at Tripoli's port,
where at least seven people tragically died in an overloaded people-smuggling
boat, just three weeks before May 15 parliamentary elections. The accident
ignited widespread public anger, as rescue teams are still searching for dozens
of survivors still missing at sea. A man had appeared overnight in a video
urging a group of people, including relatives of victims, to stage protests at
key sites in the city, one of the most affected by the severe economic crisis.
He vowed there would be no parliamentary elections in Tripoli unless the bodies
of all victims are retrieved from sea. Earlier this morning, protesters blocked
the Palma highway in Tripoli to press authorities to retrieve the bodies of
their loved ones. 48 people had been rescued and seven had died, including a
little girl. The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said the boat was carrying
at least 84 people when it capsized about three nautical miles (3.5 miles, 5.5
kilometers) off the coast -- which would leave some 30 people still unaccounted
for. A survivor accused Army chief Joseph Aoun of lying, as he protested
Wednesday. The boat survivors had claimed the navy had deliberately rammed the
vessel while trying to force it back to shore, while officials blamed reckless
smugglers for overloading the boat and eschewing safety precautions. Lebanon's
government tasked the military on Tuesday with investigating the deadly sinking.
Top military officials, including army chief Joseph Aoun, navy commander Col.
Haitham Dnaoui and head of military intelligence Brig. Gen. Tony Kahwaji were
summoned to present the findings of their preliminary investigation. Tripoli
residents have been protesting since Saturday, blaming political leaders for
Lebanon's woes, for plunging millions into poverty and driving them to attempt
the perilous crossing. They removed election posters from the walls of Tripoli
and blocked roads. Tripoli, a city ravaged by unemployment is also home to some
of Lebanon's wealthiest politicians. After the boat tragedy, a picture of Prime
Minister Najib Miqati's 100-million-dollar yacht with a cardboard banner that
read "the people of Tripoli are being assassinated by this yacht's owner" had
been circulating on social media.
Nasrallah says Lebanon 'besieged' for supporting Jerusalem
Naharnet/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said, that anyone who supports
Palestine would be besieged and subjected to sanctions. "Everyone who belongs to
this axis is subjected to sieges and penalties," Nasrallah said in a conference
on Jerusalem, citing Lebanon and "other countries and resistance movements in
the region." "The sanctions aim at forcing us to abandon Jerusalem and the
Palestinian cause and to accept normalization with Israel" Nasrallah went on to
say, suggesting a new name for the axis of resistance. "It must be called the
axis of al-Quds," Nasrallah said. He added that steadfastness in the face of
this "terrorism" is an essential part of the resistance's battle.The conference
comes after days of rising tensions between Israel and the Palestinians
following a string of deadly attacks inside Israel, arrest raids in the West
Bank, clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at Jerusalem’s most
sensitive holy site, and the heaviest fighting along the Gaza frontier since a
war last year. Nasrallah will also deliver a speech on Al-Quds International Day
on Friday.
Political party says 'no elections on May 15' as
postponement fears grow
Naharnet/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
Fears are growing over the fate of the May 15 parliamentary elections amid the
latest security and political tensions in the country, a media report said on
Wednesday. “A political party is telling its members that there will be no
elections on May 15 and that the beginning of May will be critical in this
regard,” ad-Diyar newspaper reported. Informed political sources told the daily
that “several parties now believe that the postponement of elections would be
better for them, although they are saying the opposite.” “The most notable
parties among those are the Free Patriotic Movement, al-Mustaqbal Movement, the
Progressive Socialist Party and also the Lebanese Forces,” the sources added.The
sources also noted that the LF had been “confident of its ability to seize the
parliamentary majority” but has become convinced that “its bloc, in the best
possible scenario, will remain the same.”
Beirut protesters block roads, remove pictures of
candidates
Naharnet/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
Protesters blocked several Beirut roads overnight and removed pictures of
parliamentary elections candidates, reportedly over lengthy power cuts, as
senior security sources described the move as politicized. Media reports said
hundreds of protesters, some of them on motorbikes, blocked the roads of Cola
and the Sports City and smashed posters of parliamentary candidates. In the
Barbir area, protesters removed a large poster of MP Fouad Makhzoumi, who is
running for re-election in Beirut’s second electoral district. Senior security
sources meanwhile told the Lebanon24 news website, which is owned by Prime
Minister Najib Miqati, that the protesters’ political identity is well-known.
“We know where these motorbikes came from,” the sources said, adding that the
protests were politically motivated. “Security forces managed to contain the
situation and restore calm,” the sources went on to say, warning that “such acts
might be repeated.”“Precautionary measures have been taken in conjunction with
political contacts with the various parties in order to prevent a descent into a
worse situation,” the sources added.
KSA, France launch €30 million fund in aid for Lebanon
Naharnet/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
The Minister for EU Affairs, The French Foreign Minister, the French Development
Agency, and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre have signed an
agreement to launch a joint €30 million fund in support of Lebanon. The
Saudi-French project will fund a series of humanitarian and development
initiatives in crisis-hit Lebanon. The funds will provide emergency aid,
focusing as a priority on food security and on facilitating access to primary
healthcare to the most vulnerable, the French embassy said in a statement. It
added that the funds will especially support the main public hospital of
Lebanon’s poorest city, Tripoli. The city has been hit Saturday by a deadly
tragedy as an overpacked migrant boat capsized, stirring protests and unrest.
Saudi ambassador to Lebanon Walid Boukhari said "the funds will finance the 6
main sectors of food security, health, education, energy, water and internal
security, without any sectarian differentiation."The French-Saudi deal comes
weeks after the return of the Saudi Ambassador, who had left Lebanon last
October, following an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between the two countries
over a minister's critical remarks on the Saudi role in Yemen's war.
Lebanon vote holds little hope for change despite disasters
Associated Press/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
Running for parliament for the first time, independent Hania Zaatari walks down
the meandering alleyways of the old souk in the port city of Sidon, telling
impoverished workers and traders that fixing Lebanon's devastating economic
crisis is her top priority. "The economic plan needs to consider marginalized
people like you and give them a chance for revival," she said to 70-year-old
Ahmed Abu Dhahr, one of two carpenters remaining on a street that just two years
ago boasted roughly 50.
The engineer-turned-candidate exuded confidence and hope. Yet her enthusiasm was
met by shrugs and resignation, reflecting widespread fears that the mid-May vote
will only perpetuate the grim status quo. With Lebanon in free-fall for more
than two years, it should be a make-or-break vote for the country's ruling
class. Their decades-long grip on power has driven one of the Middle East's most
spirited countries to ruin. The May 15 elections for parliament are the first
since Lebanon's economic meltdown began in late 2019. The government's factions
have done virtually nothing to address the collapse, leaving Lebanese to fend
for themselves as they plunge into poverty, without electricity, medicine,
garbage collection or any other semblance of normal life.
These are also the first elections since the August 4, 2020, catastrophic
explosion at Beirut port that killed more than 215 people and wrecked large
parts of the city. The destruction sparked widespread outrage at the traditional
parties' endemic corruption and mismanagement.
A new generation of political opposition activists, like Zaatari, emerged after
mass waves of protests that began in October 2019, a historic moment when
Lebanese temporarily dropped their confessional identities and chanted
shoulder-to-shoulder for the toppling of the ruling elite.
The activists are trying to build off that political engagement and awareness in
Lebanon to enact change. Yet instead of uniting, self-declared opposition groups
are divided along ideological lines on virtually every issue, including over how
to revive the economy.
As a result, there are an average of at least three different opposition lists
in each of the 15 electoral districts, a 20% increase from the 2018 elections. A
total of 103 lists with 1,044 candidates are vying for the 128-seat legislature,
which is equally divided between Christians and Muslims.
Many are dreading the prospective outcome. Lebanon's rulers, many of them
warlords and militia holdovers from the days of the 1975-90 civil war, have
proven extremely resilient. They hang on to their seats from one election to the
next and can behave with impunity in power, largely because the sectarian
power-sharing system and an antiquated electoral law virtually guarantee their
spots in parliament. Their parties can rally followers who remain fiercely loyal
for sectarian or ideological reasons despite outrage over the state of the
country. The economic crisis has only made people more dependent on the
patronage and cash that parties hand out.
For many, the elections are an exercise in futility.
"I am extremely disappointed and to be honest this is the last card before
immigrating from Lebanon," said Carmen Geha, an associate professor of political
studies at the American University of Beirut. She said she was moving to Spain
in the summer and that she no longer felt safe in the country.
"It is unacceptable that they wasted the momentum that was on the streets and
the suffering that people have," she said. In the past two years, over 250,000
people have left the country of nearly 7 million. In the lead-up to the vote,
streets have been festooned with giant billboards and posters of candidates with
improbable promises of change. It's a jarring sign of the money being spent on
campaigns as the currency continues to slide and inflation, poverty and hunger
grow.
Even the mainstream factions have tried to use anger over the port explosion for
gain in the election, claiming to be on the side of reform. The Christian
Lebanese Forces party has put out campaign messages insisting it pushed for
better oversight at the port before the blast.
The explosion was caused by hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate haphazardly
stored at a port warehouse. The ruling class united to block the investigation
into the blast. Nevertheless, Hizbullah, which dominates the political landscape
and the government, touts in its campaign messages that it wants an
investigation. In an act of blatant defiance, two former ministers wanted for
questioning on criminal negligence in connection to the port explosion are
running in the elections. The two, Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zaiter, belong to
the Hizbullah-allied Shiite Amal party.
"If they are to be elected again, I would find it a direct insult to all of the
country and all of the victims of the blast, to every normal human being left in
this country," said Paul Najjar, the father of one of the youngest victims of
the blast, 3-year-old Alexandra. Najjar, director of the newly formed political
advocacy group Kulluna Irada, said the election was a historic opportunity but
expressed frustration at the opposition's failure to unite. "We don't have the
luxury to think of right and left and center and socialism or liberalism, we are
in a state of survival. It is either we survive or we leave," he said.
In the northern city of Jounieh, candidate Jad Ghosn, a journalist who recently
decided to run for elections with the leftist group Citizens in a State, said
the divisions have been obvious from the start. "We have 300 political groups
claiming to be of the opposition and of the revolution, and we don't have any
structure for having a discussion or of trying to coordinate between all of
these opposition groups."
Ghosn is running on a list in the Metn district with the youngest candidate,
25-year-old Verena al-Amil and three others. Outside a Starbucks, al-Amil
approached a man who said he was voting for the Lebanese Forces, one of the main
traditional Christian parties. He said he was open to change, but he had not
heard of many other parties. Minutes before, a group of teenagers swarmed
flashing hand gestures referring to another Christian party, founded by
President Michel Aoun, which is politically allied with Hizbullah. It was a
potent sign of the mainstream parties' power over constituents. The new
independent lists are "non-sectarian so they lack communitarian support, which
is the dominant discourse in Lebanese politics," said Imad Salameh, a professor
of political science at the Lebanese American University."If the groups had been
well-financed, or backed by foreign powers like traditional parties, they might
have had a better chance."
Army liberates two kidnapped men in Baalbek
NNA/Wed, April 27, 2022
The Lebanese Army Intelligence Directorate has managed during a special
operation in Laat - Baalbek to liberate Egyptian National, Sadiq Roli Sadiq
Gabriel, who was been kidnapped on 4/16/2022 in Taybeh area - Baalbek while
filming a TV series.
An army intelligence patrol also managed to set free Lebanese citizen, Akram
Jomaa, in the vicinity of Dar Al-Waseah and Bouday. Jomaa was kidnapped on
4/26/2022 in front of his house in Lala - Western Bekaa. Meanwhile, efforts are
underway to arrest the kidnappers and refer them to the competent judiciary, a
Lebanese Army communique said on Wednesday.
British helicopter participates alongside the Lebanese Army
in search & rescue operations off Tripoli's coast
NNA/Wed, April 27, 2022
The Lebanese Army announced on Twitter that a British helicopter, CH-146
Griffon, belonging to the British 84th Squadron, is participating alongside the
Lebanese Army in search and rescue operations off the coast of Tripoli.
Rahi meets new Qatari Ambassador, Lebanese University
delegation
NNANNA/Wed, April 27, 2022
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rahi on Wednesday welcomed in Bkerki the new
Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon, Ibrahim Bin Abdulaziz Al-Sahlawi, accompanied by
the Embassy’s Chargé d'Affaires Ali Al-Mutawa, in presence of Monsignor Elie
Madi.
Patriarch Rahi also received the President of the Lebanese University, Dr.
Bassam Badran, at the head of a delegation of the University's deans. Talks
reportedly touched on the University's current situation, as well as an array of
University related affairs and demands.
Grand Mufti meets Siniora
NNANNA/Wed, April 27, 2022
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdellatif Derain met Wednesday at Dar-al-Fatwa with former
prime minister Fouad Siniora and former minister Khaled Qabbani. Speaking to
reporters following the meeting, Siniora highlighted the necessity of heavy
participation in the upcoming voting process.
Geagea: Judiciary, security apparatuses must move quickly
to clarify the circumstances of the Tripoli incident
NNA/Wed, April 27, 2022
Lebanese Forces Party Chief, Samir Geagea, tweeted today on the tragic incident
in the city of Tripoli, saying: "The death boat off Tripoli's shores is the
result of despair, deprivation and marginalization that affects the city and its
people. The judiciary and security services must move quickly to clarify the
circumstances of this case and to hold the perpetrators from any side
accountable."
Makhzoumi: Each parliament member who votes for approving the Capital Control
bill in its current form participates in the crime...
NNA/Wed, April 27, 2022
MP Fouad Makhzoumi tweeted today on the Capital Control project law, saying:
“Every MP who votes for endorsing the Capital Control in its current form, which
we categorically reject, would be partaking in the crime of shame committed
against depositors, directing a fatal blow against them with the aim of issuing
a general amnesty for banks, the Banque du Liban and the ruling class for
economic crimes they committed over the years which led to the destruction of
the country.”
Saudi Arabia, France pledge $30m for Lebanon aid and
development
NNA/Wed, April 27, 2022
France and Saudi Arabia announced a joint development fund for crisis-hit
Lebanon Tuesday evening, pledging an initial $30 million to support food
security and the country's crippled health sector, a French embassy statement
said. The funds will be routed to humanitarian projects to provide emergency
aid, including food, to the most vulnerable populations in Lebanon, improve
access to primary healthcare and to support the main public hospital in the
impoverished northern city of Tripoli, the statement said. Lebanon is in the
midst of its deepest crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. A 2019 financial
meltdown has led the currency to crash, dragging more than half of the
population into poverty and leading many to struggle to afford basics, such as
food and medicine. The announcement of the joint fund follows the return of
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Lebanon earlier this month after a five-month
absence sparked by a diplomatic spat between the kingdom and Lebanon over the
growing influence of Iran-backed Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia was previously a major
donor to Lebanon, dishing out generous financial aid to political patrons and
for development and reconstruction. But Saudi officials have said the kingdom
saw little return on investment as Lebanon fell further into regional rival
Iran's orbit.
France has spearheaded efforts to create the joint fund as part of a push to
keep Saudi Arabia engaged with Lebanon. The initial funds will be split
half-half between the French Development Agency and Saudi Arabia's King Salman
Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.
The funds will also be used to provide cash aid benefitting some 7,500 people
and baby milk for families in need, tweets from the French foreign ministry's
Arabic-language account said. This partnership seeks to back relief and
humanitarian action in Lebanon, Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Al-Bukhari,
said. The funding will support six main sectors, including food security,
health, education, energy, water and internal security, he added. “Saudi Arabia
will share with France a common responsibility to maintain Lebanon's stability,
sovereignty and territorial integrity, in line with the relevant Arab and
international legitimacy's resolutions,” Bukhari explained. "We achieve
our duty towards Lebanon without any discrimination. We will work with the
international community for a better future for Lebanon," the Saudi diplomat
concluded. Meanwhile, French Ambassador to Lebanon, Anne Grillo, stressed the
paramount importance of working with Saudi Arabia to back the Lebanese in light
of the country’s humanitarian crisis. "These are indications of moral rather
than significant practical support at this point," Ali Shihabi, a Saudi
political analyst, told Reuters.
"Unless substantive reforms are undertaken that include reforms in governance
and substantive constraints on Hezbollah's power in Lebanon, I do not expect any
substantial material aid to be forthcoming," he said.—Reuters/KUNA
Gasoline prices drop, diesel and gas prices register
additional hike
NNA/Wed, April 27, 2022
Gasoline prices have dropped in Lebanon on Wednesday as the price of gasoline
(95 octanes) and (98 octanes) has decreased by LBP 2000. The price of diesel has
increased by LBP 23000. The price of a gas cylinder has increased by LBP 14000.
Consequently, the new prices are as follows:
95 octanes: LBP 480000
98 octanes: LBP 490000
Diesel: LBP 570000
Gas: LBP 357000
Bou Habib, received European Union’s Special
Representative for the Middle East Peace Process
NNA/Wed, April 27, 2022
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Dr. Abdullah Bou Habib, on Wednesday
received European Union’s Special Representative for the Middle East Peace
Process, Sven Koopmans, with discussions reportedly touching on the peace
process in the region, border demarcation, in addition to the situation of
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and the work of UNRWA.
Frem: Do not lose the compass, bring down the system!
NNA/Wed, April 27, 2022
Resigned MP Neemat Frem urged the Lebanese citizens “not to lose their compass,”
saying on Twitter: “Prior to the October 17th Revolution, passing through the
explosion of August 4, and far-reaching the boats of forced death, the
responsibility is borne by a criminal system...It is time for it to be held
accountable at the ballot box!”
He added, “Confront in a civilized way, and do not direct your legitimate anger
on the wrong person or post...May 15th is around the corner. Fail the system!"
Referring to the Tripoli sorrowful incident, Frem continued his tweet by stating
that "national mourning is but a mere humanitarian gesture amidst the horror of
the tragedy...Wouldn’t it have been more beneficial to have anticipated the
tragedy with a financial and economic recovery plan and assimilative steps for
the catastrophic life situation in Tripoli?”
الناشطة كلود حجار تستقيل من مجموعة “لبنان دي أن أي”
Release/Claude A Hillar Hajjar: I Am Not Anymore Affiliated With The Lebanese
DNA
April 27/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/108296/release-claude-a-hillar-hajjar-i-am-not-anymore-affiliated-with-the-lebanese-dna-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%b4%d8%b7%d8%a9-%d9%83%d9%84%d9%88%d8%af-%d8%ad%d8%ac%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%aa/
Dear Friends,
I’m leaving Lebanese DNA because the gap between us became big.
1 – In the elections that they encourage, I call for the boycott because I
believe and history has proven that Never an election under occupation could be
free and fair!
2- In the new Strategy, drawn by Tom Harb, Walid Phares, and some Americans for
sure, that Antoine Saad and Viviane Haber agreed to adopt without discussing
different opinions.
A Strategy that I believe in being the DUMBEST of all Strategies drawn for
Lebanon. Making Free Zones, No Hezbollah’s land, like the “No Man’s land”… as if
Hezbollah Terrorists will agree to Stay or Control, or Kill or Assassinate or
Fabricate their Drugs/Captagon ONLY in DAHIYEH, THE BEQAA OR IN OUR DEAREST
SOUTH!!??
Do you believe that these same Hezbollah Terrorists that were recently planning
and ready to STRIKE an attack or several ones IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
through their sleeping agent, Alexei Saab, will not attack Jouniyeh, Batroun,
Byblos-Jbeil, Sin el Fil, Ain El Remmaneh, Ashrafiyeh, BEIRUT,…???
THIS NEW STRATEGIC ROADMAP WILL MAKE US LOOK LIKE FOOLS TOWARDS OUR USA OFFICIAL
FRIENDS & THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY (even though some of them might have
already agreed) …
AND I DON’T WANT TO BE PART OF IT!!!
I might be right or wrong, time will tell…
*Claude A Hillar Hajjar
Founder Of “The Committee Of Support For The Lebanese Enforced In Exile In
Israel”
نص كلمة د. توفيق هندي في اختتام “المؤتمر 2022 من أجل
لبنان حر” الذي عقد في واشنطن بتاريخ 26 نيسان 2022
Dr. Toufic Hindi’s Closing Remarks in the “2022 Conference for a Free Lebanon”,
That Was Held In Washington On April 26/2022
Dr. Toufic Hindi, Lebanese politician and strategist
April 27/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/108284/dr-toufic-hinis-closing-remarks-in-the-2022-conference-for-a-free-lebanon-that-was-held-in-washington-on-april-26-2022%d9%86%d8%b5-%d9%83%d9%84%d9%85%d8%a9-%d8%af-%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%81%d9%8a/
Closing Remarks
First remark: Lebanon is under Iranian occupation
The fate of Lebanon, as in any country, is determined by the balance of forces,
the main component of which in a country under occupation or dominated by a
militia is the military-security component. It precedes in importance the other
components be it political, popular, economic, financial and cultural.
Hezbollah is the strongest party militarily and security wise, and as such, it
vassalized the rogue political class and thus took control of all the units of
the state apparatus, directly and/or indirectly. In this respect, it is worth of
note that this corrupt political class power-shared these units via its mafia
behavior based on an endemic political patronage.
After the election of General Michel Aoun to the Presidency of the Republic in
2016 and the 2018 parliamentary elections through which Hezbollah gained the
majority, the strategic decision of any Government, irrespective of its
composition and nature, remains in its hands. Thus, one can say that Hezbollah
controls the three constitutional institutions.
Externally, the Vienna talks are going on so far without success, knowing that
the two major issues of ballistic missiles and Iranian expansion in the region
remain outside the scope of negotiations.
The “raison d’être” of the Islamic Republic of Iran which is a mixture of a
state and a revolutionary entity, is the export of its revolution to the
worldwide, starting from the Middle East through its jihadist army in the
region, i.e. the Quds Brigade and the Axis of Resistance.
It is further worth of note that Hezbollah is the main component of the Brigade
and the Axis, and its Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is the
undeclared leader of the two entities, thus succeeding to Qassem Soleimani.
Therefore, with the success or failure of the Vienna talks, the Islamic Republic
of Iran cannot afford losing its “raison d’être” and abandon the export of its
“Islamic Revolution” at any price, since, in so doing, the regime in Teheran
will fall.
Conclusion1: Lebanon is under Iranian occupation via Hezbollah regardless of the
success of Vienna talks
Second remark: Constitutional processes in an occupied Lebanon
The “Lebanese state” is not only a failed state or a rogue state. Lebanon is
living in a situation of non-state.
In Lebanon, the State of Institutions, the Constitution, and the Law are absent.
The virtual State is only a tool in the hands of Hezbollah.
Therefore, there is no way for national salvation and change through using
constitutional processes (parliamentary and
presidential elections and the formation of governments).
Conclusion2: Coexisting with the occupier and the rogue political class under
its control in Parliament, Government, and dialogue bodies, would only benefit
to Hezbollah.
Third remark: Elections, Hezbollah and the International Community
After the formation of the Mikati government, the Lebanese political scene went
hysterical concerning the parliamentary elections to be held on May 15,
portrayed by many political forces as an existential turning point.
The West called and is calling for its holding, camouflaging its true goals,
through the need to produce a new political elite generated by the October 17
2019 uprising, as an alternative to the corrupt political class, in order to
implement needed reforms.
Meanwhile, the West whose main goal is to normalize its relations with Iran in
order to conclude illusory juicy deals with it, is now practicing a
“realpolitik” approach concerning Hezbollah and its cronies.
Therefore, Lebanese political factions who are blindly sharing such complacent
Western approach towards Iran at this stage is similar to what happened in the
early nineties, when the West gave a free hand to Hafez El Assad in Lebanon.
Whoever participated in the Syrian-Lebanese security system at that time, on the
basis of practicing “realpolitik”, either ended his life as a martyr like Rafik
Hariri, or as a convict pursuant to a suspended death sentence like Walid
Jumblatt.
Let’s remember that the Syrian occupation didn’t end through elections or
formation of Governments, but through a non-violent sovereigntist movement which
faced a Lebanese State under occupation.
It began with the boycott of elections in 1992, took shape with Cornet Chehwan
in 2001 and evolved into a massive popular movement in 14th of March 2005,
mirroring the will of Lebanese people to free themselves from the Syrian
occupation.
But all this popular build-up couldn’t deliver if a real change of the military
balance of forces didn’t occur. The massive military American presence in Irak
and the Bush Administration ultimatum to Assad, coupled with the 1559 resolution
and the paramount of the sovereigntist movement in 14th March 2005, caused the
withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon on the 26th of April 2005.
Unhappily, the catastrophic behavior of the March 14’s main components towards
Hezbollah, permitted the replacement of the Syrian occupation by the Iranian
occupation, and paved the way to the “somalization” of Lebanon.
The lesson to learn here is that Lebanon cannot be liberated by those who has
been tested and who gave priority to their own power game over the attainment of
national objectives. Their very nature cannot change and it will induce their
very same behavior in the future.
Let’s remember also that the 14th March coalition did have the majority of the
Parliament in 2005 and 2009 and yet couldn’t liberate Lebanon.
Conclusion3: Holding elections under occupation only serves the occupation.
Fourth remark: The outcome of elections
Hezbollah together with the corrupt, murderous rogue political class operating
under its control, albeit in different forms, possess strong elements in the
electoral process which would allow them to be victorious.
Thus, there is no way for those struggling for sovereignty and change to win the
majority.
Two weeks ahead of the scheduled elections, all indicates that Hezbollah will
get again the majority of the Parliament. This is why the elections will be
held, unless Hezbollah gets the feeling in the meantime that its chances to win
a majority are at risk. In this case, it is easy for it to provoke indirectly a
security problem which would render the election process impossible.
The International Community would then be facing a difficult choice between a
parliamentary vacuum and hence the total collapse of the non-State or an
extension of the term of the current Parliament. No doubt that it will choose
the second option and impose it on the whole political class.
Conclusion4: Hezbollah will maintain its parliamentary majority, whether
elections were held or not, with a bonus in the first case which will provide it
with a renewed legitimacy.
Waiting impatiently for the day after the elections to bring together all
genuine potentialities in a movement calling for freeing Lebanon from the
Iranian occupation and the rogue murderer corrupt political class.
General Conclusion:
The “somalisation” of Lebanon would awaken dormant jihadist cells in the Syrian
and Palestinian camps as well as in certain Lebanese sunny regions. Moreover, it
would encourage illegal immigration which has already begun, to Europe in
particular.
The Lebanese problem is therefore not intrinsically Lebanese.
Lebanon has become a ticking time bomb for security, stability and peace in the
region and in the world.
A roadmap for the rescue of Lebanon would therefore be beneficial for regional
and international security, stability and peace.
The roadmap we propose is as follows:
1) The implementation of a Security Council resolution placing resolutions 1559,
1680 and 1701 under chapter 7 and expanding the tasks of UNIFIL.
2) A Security Council Resolution placing Lebanon under an international mandate
in accordance with Chapters 12 and 13 of the United Nations Charter or through
the invocation of Human Rights to confront the criminal political class.
3) It is only after the cleansing of all state institutions of political
clientelism and corruption and the stabilization of the situation in Lebanon
within the framework of the aforementioned international supervision that the
legislative elections could be held in accordance with a new electoral law. They
would be followed by the presidential election and the formation of a government
that would pave the way for the lifting of international tutelage and the
recovery of Lebanon at all levels. The Mandatory Authorities should form a
temporary Lebanese military-civilian Authority to do, under its supervision,
“the big cleaning” of the state apparatus.
Result: Renewed confidence of the Lebanese people in the Lebanese State, as well
as renewed confidence of the international and Arab community, and of the
Lebanese diaspora in the Lebanese State, paving the way for a rapid recovery of
Lebanon economically, financially, socially and culturally…
Workers discover ‘unprecedented’ Phoenician necropolis
in southern Spain
Sam Jones/The Guardian.April 27/2022
Preliminary surveys in Osuna have turned up eight burial vaults as well as
staircases
Workers upgrading water supplies in southern Spain have come across an
“unprecedented” and well-preserved necropolis of subterranean limestone vaults
where the Phoenicians who lived on the Iberian peninsula 2,500 years ago laid
their dead.
Archaeologists exploring the site – which was discovered amid the Roman ruins in
the town of Osuna, 55 miles (90km) east of Seville – say the
Phoenician-Carthaginian cemetery dates back to the fourth or fifth century BC
and is highly unusual as such sites are normally found in coastal areas rather
than so far inland. Although the local ruins of the
Roman city of Urso are well known, the discovery of the Phoenician necropolis
has stunned archaeologists and locals. The only similar finds have been made
around the coast of Cádiz, which was founded by the Phoenicians in 1100BC and
which is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe.
Preliminary surveys have so far turned up eight burial vaults as well as
staircases and areas that are thought to have served as atriums.
The culture and historical heritage department of the Andalucían regional
government, which is overseeing the excavations, said its archaeologists had
discovered “a series of remains of unquestionable historical value” that were
“unprecedented in inland Andalucía”.
The lead archaeologist, Mario Delgado, described the discovery as very
significant and very unexpected. “To find a necropolis from the Phoenician and
Carthaginian era with these characteristics – with eight well tombs, atriums and
staircase access – you’d have to look to Sardinia or even Carthage itself,” he
said.
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“We thought we might find remains from the imperial Roman age, which would be
more in keeping with the surroundings, so we were surprised when we found these
structures carved from the rock – hypogea [subterranean vaults] – perfectly
preserved beneath the Roman levels.”
Rosario Andújar, the mayor of Osuna, said the find had already prompted a
re-examination of the area’s history.
“We all know that excavations in certain parts of our town are pretty likely to
turn up remains that have varying degrees of historical value, but we’ve never
gone this deep before,” said Andújar, who visited the site on Monday.
The new evidence of a Phoenician-Carthaginian presence in the area, added
Andújar, “doesn’t change history – but it does change what we’d known until now
about the history of Osuna, and it could be a turning point”.
The mayor said that while more research needed to be done, the luxurious nature
of the necropolis suggested it had been built for those at “the highest level”
of the social hierarchy.
“The operation isn’t over yet and there’s still more to be discovered,” she
said. “But the team has already come up with reliable information that attests
to the historical importance of all this. Both the graves themselves and the
ritual spaces that are being examined suggest that this wasn’t any old burial
site.”
Osuna, which has a population of nearly 18,000, found a worldwide audience eight
years ago when parts of the fifth season of Game of Thrones were filmed in the
town.
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Can Lebanon be neutral on the Arab-Israeli conflict?
David Daoud/Times Of Israel/April 27/2022
A groundbreaking conference near Beirut seeks a new definition of Lebanese
patriotism, one that does not equate with supporting perpetual war with Israel
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/can-lebanon-be-neutral-on-the-arab-israeli-conflict/
Lebanon was born as a house divided. Today, that division manifests in conflict
between an Iran-backed “Resistance Camp” that unilaterally wages war on behalf
of the country, and a large swath of the population aspiring to normalcy. This
weekend, elements of the latter convened a conference in Harissa to call for
Lebanon to adopt neutrality in regional conflicts and, in so doing, offer
Lebanon a path out of its present crisis. The conference – conceived as the
launch of an ongoing series of initiatives – convened under the patronage of
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai, but also included religious and
secular representatives from all of Lebanon’s ethnicities and sects. Together
they built the case that steering Lebanon back to a course of neutrality in
foreign affairs would also open the possibility of an investment-based recovery
for the faltering Lebanese economy.
Similar initiatives have been attempted in the past, foundering on ambiguity and
selective application of neutrality. Former prime minister Saad Hariri’s 2017
call for Lebanese “dissociation” from regional controversies, for example,
failed to explicitly extend neutrality to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Hezbollah
and its governmental partners exploited this loophole to gut Hariri’s advocated
neutrality of any meaning. Falling back on an alleged “Islamic, Arab, and
Lebanese consensus” on liberating Palestine, they argued that waging war against
Israel didn’t violate the principle of Lebanese neutrality.
This past weekend’s conference attempted to close that gap by unambiguously
extending Lebanese neutrality to the Arab-Israeli conflict, and defining it to
mean just that: neither joining the Arab-Israeli normalization process known as
the Abraham Accords nor maintaining Lebanon as a perpetual battlefield against
Israel. In furtherance of entrenching neutrality, the conference also challenged
Lebanon’s anti-normalization laws, which criminalize people-to-people contacts
between Lebanese citizens and Israelis as innocuous as sharing a DM on Twitter.
Participants stressed that their proposal to repeal the laws was not a call for
normalization in the sense of a peace treaty between the two governments. It was
rather a case to align the legal system with a core tenet of neutrality: the
principle of an open society. The same laws, they noted, also drive a wedge
between the country and 300,000 Lebanese citizens residing in the UAE; prevent
Lebanese from engaging Palestinian efforts to foster civil society in their
territories; and prevent Lebanese individuals and businesses from profitably
engaging multinational companies that do not abide by any exclusionary laws.
In adopting these positions, the conference and its participants sought to
reclaim and redefine the concept of Lebanese patriotism. For much of Lebanon’s
history, that became almost synonymous with supporting perpetual war with Israel
in the name of the Palestinian cause. That this permanent bellicosity failed to
advance Palestinian rights and resulted only in misery and destructive conflict
for Lebanon mattered little. It was an ideological mainstay that many Lebanese
feared to challenge lest they be labeled traitors, and which certain domestic
and foreign actors had a self-serving interest in maintaining.
Hezbollah’s dominance
Hezbollah is precisely such an actor. Though based in Lebanon and comprised of
Lebanese citizens, Hezbollah is more dependent on foreign tutelage and aid than
any of its rivals. By its own senior leadership’s admission, the group is
ideologically subservient to Iran, and it has not hesitated to subordinate
Lebanon’s interests to those of Tehran. The equation of Lebanese patriotism with
enmity toward Israel has allowed Hezbollah to dominate Lebanon’s national
narrative, and to transfer decision-making on the Lebanese national interest
from Beirut to Tehran. The outcome has been devastating.
For decades, Lebanese have had to live under threat of war – or with the
consequences of Hezbollah’s periodic devastating clashes with Israel – with
little to no say in the matter. Furthermore, to maintain its private arsenal and
license to carry on endless resistance, Hezbollah both thrives off and feeds
into Lebanon’s sectarianism. After all, the emergence of a real national
identity could inevitably lead to the formation of strong state institutions,
including an effective national army that would obviate the need for an armed
sectarian militia unilaterally assuming the role of national defender.
But this sectarianism is also the source of endemic cronyism and corruption,
which have sapped the country’s vitality, driven off foreign aid and investment,
and plunged it into one of the worst economic crises in history. As the
panelists noted, incredibly, Lebanon today attracts less foreign direct
investment than North Korea.
An alternate vision
The organizers of this weekend’s conference sought to offer Lebanese an
alternate vision, one that redefines patriotism as investment in building up
their country and providing for the prosperity and security of its citizens.
Critically, in contrast to prior activist calls, this conference also offered
concrete plans on how to achieve that vision, and sought foreign assistance only
after demonstrating the ability of the Lebanese to start delivering. On a
theoretical level, this put them on a footing of being able to compete with
Hezbollah in the realm of ideas, even if the disparities in actual power
continue to strongly favor the latter.
As with all purported solutions for Lebanon’s woes, skepticism is warranted.
Lebanese activists and politicians have a track record of promising change while
failing to deliver. Nor is curtailing Hezbollah’s freedom of action, or even
disarming and disbanding the group in its entirety, a panacea for all that ails
Lebanon. The country’s problems run much deeper, and the group’s existence is a
mere symptom, rather than their cause. However, while weakening the group is not
sufficient to rescue Lebanon, it is the necessary precondition to the Lebanese
reclaiming national decision-making from any foreign power – and that is the
first step to solving the rest of the country’s problems.
*David Daoud is the director of Lebanon, Israel, and Syria research at United
Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on April 27-28/2022
Israel in deadliest Syria strikes
this year
Agence France Presse/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
Israeli air strikes near Damascus on Wednesday killed nine combatants, among
them five Syrian soldiers, in the deadliest such raid since the start of 2022, a
war monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an ammunition
depot and several positions linked to Iran's military presence in Syria were
among the targets. Government media in Syria confirmed four of the five
casualties in the strikes, on which Israel did not comment. "The Israeli enemy
carried out an air assault at dawn... targeting several positions around
Damascus," a military source was quoted as saying by the state news agency SANA.
"The investigation indicated that four soldiers were killed, three others
injured and material damage noted."The latest strike follows another near
Damascus on April 14, without casualties, according to SANA. The UK-based
Observatory, which relies on a vast network of sources in every region of Syria,
said eight people were also wounded in the strikes. The other four killed were
not members of the Syrian military but belonged to Iran-backed militia,
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said, adding he could not verify their
nationality. He said at least five separate sites were targeted in the latest
Israeli raid. AFP correspondents in the Syrian capital said they heard loud
explosions. Since the war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out
hundreds of air strikes inside the country, targeting government positions as
well as allied Iran-backed forces and Shiite militant group Hezbollah. While
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes, it has acknowledged mounting
hundreds since 2011. The Israeli military has defended them as necessary to
prevent its arch-foe Iran from gaining a foothold on its doorstep. The conflict
in Syria started with the brutal repression of peaceful protests and escalated
to pull in foreign powers and global jihadists. It has killed nearly 500,000
people and displaced half of the country's population.
White House Worried Iran Could Develop
Nuclear Weapon in Weeks
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
The White House is worried Iran could develop a nuclear weapon in weeks, press
secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken
noted earlier in the day the country has accelerated its nuclear program. "Yes
it definitely worries us," Psaki said, adding the time needed for Iran to
produce a nuclear weapon is down from about a year. Blinken said on Tuesday that
Washington still believes that getting back into compliance with the
international nuclear agreement would be the best way to address the nuclear
challenge posed by Iran.
Blinken Sticks to Efforts for Reviving Iran Nuclear
Deal
Washington - Rana Abtar and Heba El Koudsy/Asharq
Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed on Tuesday that Washington still
believes that reviving the nuclear deal with Tehran remains as “the best way to
address the nuclear challenge posed by Iran.”
He stressed the US ability to curb Iran’s other malign activities.
Speaking to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Blinken vowed to
hold an open Iran hearing before Memorial Day, which falls at the end of May.
The Secretary also claimed that Iran’s nuclear breakout time went from a year
“to a matter of weeks” due to the US withdrawal from the deal. “Iran is acting
with more destabilizing effect throughout the region,” he said. Blinken
reiterated previous comments that the Biden administration inherited a “very
challenging situation,” adding that they were “ramped up” by Iranian
escalations. “We continue to believe that getting back
into compliance with the agreement would be the best way to address the nuclear
challenge posed by Iran and to make sure that an Iran that is already acting
with incredible aggression doesn't have a nuclear weapon,” Blinken told the
Committee. Turning to the increasing Iranian attacks
on US forces in the region, Blinken spoke of two points. The first point is that
these activities would be much worse if Tehran obtained a nuclear weapon.
The second point is that the nuclear agreement with Iran will not affect
the US ability and determination to pursue it with respect to hostilities and in
coordination with allies. Blinken stressed that the
goal of the United States is that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. Sen.
Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asked Blinken if it was true that the US conditions to remove
the Revolutionary Guards from its terrorism list in exchange for Tehran giving
up its revenge for the death of its Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani.
Blinken did not answer the question directly and instead recognized that there
is an ongoing threat against US officials both present and past. “Is it true the
State Department is spending roughly $2 million a month to protect those
affected?” Cruz asked, referring to an Associated Press report that revealed the
State Department is paying that amount towards security for former Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo and a former top aide. “We are making — we will — we are
making sure, and we will make sure for as long as it takes that we’re protecting
our people, past and former if they’re, if they’re under threat,” Blinken
responded.
Senior Diplomatic Sources: An Iran Nuclear Deal is
Still Possible
Berlin - Raghida Bahnam/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday,
27 April, 2022
Despite the clear impasse in negotiations to revive the nuclear agreement
between the West and Iran, it appears that there is still hope. Senior
diplomatic sources close to the Vienna talks voiced their belief to Asharq
Al-Awsat that it was still “possible” to strike a deal.
Delegations participating in the Vienna negotiations left the Austrian
capital on March 11 without returning to it since then. They left after an EU
official announced the need to halt negotiations for “external reasons.”What
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy Josep Borrell meant by “external reasons” are the new demands laid out by
Russia after it was sanctioned by the West for its military invasion of Ukraine.
While the Russian dilemma was soon resolved after Moscow obtained the guarantees
it had requested, negotiations remained stuck without achieving any progress.
The most prominent challenge has become Iran's insistence on removing the
Revolutionary Guards from the terrorism list and removing its leaders from the
US sanctions list, as a condition for signing the agreement.
It seems that Iran is betting on the US submitting to its demands to
avoid another crisis besides the one in Ukraine. Nevertheless, the Biden
administration has insisted since the start of negotiations with Iran that it
will not lift sanctions slapped by the Trump administration if they are not
directly related to the agreement. Sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards fall into this category. Because it is classified under the sanctions
related to terrorism and not nuclear activities. While
the US is conducting an internal assessment and discussion about the
appropriateness of delisting the Guards as a price for reviving the nuclear
agreement, the European Union continues its efforts to try to revive the
agreement, the text of which is almost complete. The
EU coordinator for talks to restore the Iran nuclear deal, Enrique Mora, visited
Tehran a month ago and met with Iranian officials, but he returned empty-handed.
Now, Mora is preparing to hold new bilateral meetings "soon", and he is still
conducting non-stop consultations with the US and Iranian parties, senior
diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. According to
the sources, the consultations will not take place in Vienna, and that the
delegations will not return to the Austrian capital unless an agreement is
reached.
Taliban, Tehran to Launch Talks to Contain Border
Tensions
London - Tehran/Asharq
Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
ran and the Taliban agreed on Tuesday to hold talks soon to contain border
tensions, while the Iranian National Security Council denied reports of sending
tanks and armored vehicles to borders.
A state of alert was raised by the Taliban and Iran against the backdrop of
skirmishes that took place at the end of last week. Iranian media released video
footage of trucks loaded with tanks and military vehicles heading for armored
brigades in the 88th Corps, which is stationed in the city of Zahedan, the
center of Balochistan province. The Iranian “Khabar Online” website verified the
footage of Iranian authorities ramping up deployment near borders with
Afghanistan. Later, Nour News, the platform of the National Security Council,
stated that “the eastern borders are completely safe.” The platform described
circulated footage of troops sent to the Afghan border as “old and irrelevant,”
noting that the situation is “completely normal.” Nour
News pointed out that the deployment of border guard units is “in accordance
with their routine tasks in maintaining border security.” It noted that
mediation is underway with the Afghan border guards to clear up
misunderstandings. The website accused those circulating the footage on social
networks of attempting to suggest the existence of a crisis.
Iranian Deputy Ambassador to Kabul Hassan Mortazavi had held talks with
Shabir Ahmad, head of the Ministry of Defense working group and head of the
Taliban working group tasked with organizing shared border affairs with Iran. It
was also decided that the four-member Afghan delegation would meet with Iranian
officials in one of the capitals or at the shared border after Eid al-Fitr to
resolve border issues. Regarding the presence of some
Taliban forces on the shared border with Iran, Shabir Ahmad said that Taliban
government officials, especially the Minister of Defense, had ordered that no
one was allowed to stir any conflict on the Iranian border and that military
deployment on the shared border was prohibited.
Russia cuts gas to Poland, Bulgaria, West vows arms for
Kyiv
Associated Press/April 27, 2022
The U.S. defense chief urged Ukraine's allies to "move at the speed of war" to
get more and heavier weapons to Kyiv as Russian forces rained fire on eastern
and southern Ukraine, and Russia cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
For the second day, explosions rocked the separatist region of Trans-Dniester on
Tuesday in neighboring Moldova, knocking out two powerful radio antennas. And a
Russian missile hit a strategic railroad bridge linking Ukraine's Odesa port
region to neighboring Romania, a NATO member, Ukrainian authorities said. Just
across the border in Russia, an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region was
burning early Wednesday after several explosions were heard, the governor,
Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on the messaging app Telegram. Early this month, Russia
said two Ukrainian helicopter gunships hit an oil reservoir in the same region,
causing a fire. Russia's state-controlled natural gas giant Gazprom said it cut
supplies to NATO members Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday after they refused to
pay for the shipments in rubles. Poland has been a major gateway for the
delivery of weapons to Ukraine and confirmed this week that it is sending the
country tanks.
Gazprom in a statement warned that if Poland and Bulgaria siphon gas intended
for other European customers, the deliveries to Europe will be reduced to that
amount. European gas prices have spiked by as much as 24% on the news. Benchmark
Dutch futures traded at one point around 125 euros per megawatt hour. Fatih
Birol, the executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency,
tweeted Wednesday morning that his organization "stands firmly with
Poland.""Gazprom's move to completely shut off gas supplies to Poland is yet
another sign of Russia's politicisation of existing agreements & will only
accelerate European efforts to move away from Russian energy supplies," he
wrote. Poland said it was well-prepared after working for years to reduce its
reliance on Russian energy. Poland also has ample natural gas in storage, and it
will soon benefit from two pipelines coming online, analyst Emily McClain of
Rystad Energy said.Bulgaria gets over 90% of its gas from Russia, and officials
said they were working to find other sources, such as from Azerbaijan. Both
countries had refused Russia's demands that they pay in rubles, as have almost
all of Russia's gas customers in Europe.
Two months into the fighting, Western arms have helped Ukraine stall Russia's
invasion, but the country's leaders have said they need more support fast.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said more help was on the way at a meeting
Tuesday with officials from about 40 countries at the U.S. air base at Ramstein,
Germany. "We've got to move at the speed of war," Austin said. He said he wanted
officials to leave the meeting "with a common and transparent understanding of
Ukraine's near-term security requirements because we're going to keep moving
heaven and earth so that we can meet them." After unexpectedly fierce resistance
by Ukrainian forces thwarted Russia's attempt to take Ukraine's capital, Moscow
now says its focus is the capture of the Donbas, the mostly Russian-speaking
industrial area in eastern Ukraine.In the town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk
region, people fleeing the shelling lined up Tuesday to board a train headed to
the far west of the country. One person was lifted onto the train in a
wheelchair, another on a stretcher.
The passengers took with them cats, dogs, a few bags and boxes, and the memory
of those who did not flee in time. "We were in the basement, but my daughter
didn't make it and was hit with shrapnel on the doorstep" during shelling on
Monday, said Mykola Kharchenko, 74. "We had to bury her in the garden near the
pear tree."
He said his village, Vremivka, was under heavy fire for four days and all but
destroyed. With tears in his eyes, Kharchenko said he somehow held himself
together at home, but once he reached the train station he fell apart. In a
flash of anger, he lashed out at Russia. "Is this liberation? From whom am I, a
Russian speaker, from whom am I being liberated? From whom? From my daughter?
From everything I have built during my whole life?" In the gutted southern port
city of Mariupol, authorities said Russian forces hit the Azovstal steel plant
with 35 airstrikes over 24 hours. The plant is the last known stronghold of
Ukrainian fighters in the city. About 1,000 civilians were said to be taking
shelter there with an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian defenders. Petro Andryushchenko,
an adviser to Mariupol's mayor, said Russia was using heavy bunker bombs. He
also accused Russian forces of shelling a route they had offered as an escape
corridor from the steel mill. Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region of
the Donbas, said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces "continue to
deliberately fire at civilians and to destroy critical infrastructure." Ukraine
also said Russian forces shelled Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city,
which lies in the northeast, outside the Donbas. But it is seen as key to
Russia's apparent bid to encircle Ukrainian troops in the Donbas from the north,
east and south.
Ukrainian forces struck back in the Kherson region in the south.
The attack Tuesday on the bridge near Odesa — along with a series of strikes on
key railroad stations a day earlier — appeared to signal a major shift in
Russia's approach. Until now, Moscow has spared strategic bridges, perhaps in
hopes of keeping them for its own use in seizing Ukraine. But now it seems to be
trying to thwart Ukraine's efforts to move troops and supplies. No injuries were
reported in the strike on the bridge, and Ukraine's military said repair work
was underway. The southern Ukraine coastline and Moldova have been on edge since
a senior Russian military officer said last week that the Kremlin's goal is to
secure not just eastern Ukraine but the entire south, so as to open the way to
Trans-Dniester, a long, narrow strip of land with about 470,000 people along the
Ukrainian border where about 1,500 Russian troops are based. It was not clear
who was behind the blasts in Trans-Dniester, but the attacks gave rise to fears
that Russia is stirring up trouble so as to create a pretext to either invade
Trans-Dniester or use the region as another launching point to attack Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the explosions were carried out by
Russia and were "designed to destabilize," with the intention of showing Moldova
what could happen if it supports Ukraine. Austin, the U.S. defense secretary,
said the U.S. was still looking into blasts and trying to determine what was
going on, but added: "Certainly we don't want to see any spillover" of the
conflict. With the potentially pivotal battle for the east underway, the U.S.
and its NATO allies are scrambling to deliver artillery and other heavy weaponry
in time to make a difference.
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said her government will supply
Gepard self-propelled armored anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine. German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz has faced mounting pressure to send heavy weapons such as tanks and
other armored vehicles. Austin noted that more than 30 allies and partners have
joined the U.S. in sending military aid to Ukraine and that more than $5 billion
worth of equipment has been committed. The U.S. defense secretary said the war
has weakened Russia's military, adding, "We would like to make sure, again, that
they don't have the same type of capability to bully their neighbors that we saw
at the outset of this conflict."A senior Kremlin official, Nikolai Patrushev,
warned that "the policies of the West and the Kyiv regime controlled by it would
only be the breakup of Ukraine into several states."Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov cautioned that if the Western flow of weapons continues, the talks
aimed at ending the fighting will not produce any results.
EU defies Russia gas ‘blackmail’ as UN chief arrives in
Ukraine
Updated 15 sec ago
AGENCIES/April 27, 2022
LONDON: The European Union warned Russia on Wednesday it would not bend to
“blackmail” over its support for Kyiv, after the Kremlin cut off gas supplies to
Bulgaria and Poland. Russia cut off natural gas to NATO members Poland and
Bulgaria on Wednesday and threatened to do the same to other countries, using
its most essential export in what was seen as a bid to punish and divide the
West over its support for Ukraine. The move, condemned by European leaders as
“blackmail,” marked a dramatic escalation in the economic war of sanctions and
counter sanctions that has unfolded in parallel to the fighting on the
battlefield. The EU warning came as UN chief Antonio Guterres arrived in Kyiv to
meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky following talks with Russian President
Vladimir Putin in Moscow to expand humanitarian support and secure civilian
evacuations. “I have arrived in Ukraine after visiting Moscow,” he wrote on his
official Twitter account as he landed ahead of talks with Ukraine’s President
Volodymyr Zelensky. “We will continue our work to expand humanitarian support
and secure the evacuation of civilians from conflict zones. The sooner this war
ends, the better — for the sake of Ukraine, Russia, and the world,” Guterres
tweeted. At the Moscow talks on Tuesday, Guterres repeated calls for both Russia
and Ukraine to work together to set up “safe and effective” humanitarian
corridors in war-torn Ukraine.
In turn, Putin told him he hoped that negotiations could end the conflict which
saw Russian troops invading Ukraine on February 24.
“Despite the fact that the military operation is ongoing, we still hope that we
will be able to reach agreements on the diplomatic track,” the Russian leader
said in televised remarks. However, Putin also issued his own warning on
Wednesday, saying that if Western forces intervene in Ukraine, they will face a
“lightning-fast” military response.
“We have all the tools for this, that no one else can boast of having,” the
Russian leader told lawmakers, implicitly referring to Moscow’s ballistic
missiles and nuclear arsenal. “We won’t boast about
it: we’ll use them, if needed. And I want everyone to know that,” he said. “We
have already taken all the decisions on this.”The dire threats came as Moscow
claimed to have carried out a missile strike in southern Ukraine to destroy a
“large batch” of Western-supplied weapons. As the war,
which has already claimed thousands of lives, entered its third month, Kyiv
conceded that Russian forces had made gains in the east.
Russia’s military offensive saw it capture a string of villages in the Donbas
region, now the immediate target of its invasion force.
And in its economic standoff with the West, Moscow cut off gas supplies
to Bulgaria and Poland, two EU and NATO members backing Ukraine in the conflict.
However later Wednesday In Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the
European Commission, said Poland and Bulgaria are now receiving gas from their
EU neighbors. She described the announcement by Russia’s state energy giant
Gazprom as “another provocation from the Kremlin” that would be countered.
“It comes as no surprise that the Kremlin uses fossil fuels to try to blackmail
us,” she said. “Today, the Kremlin failed once again in his attempt to sow
division among member states. The era of Russian fossil fuel in Europe is coming
to an end.”“Both Poland and Bulgaria are now receiving gas from their EU
neighbors,” she said. “The era of Russian fossil fuels in Europe will come to an
end.”EU officials said energy ministers from across the bloc will meet on Monday
to discuss the situation. European powers have imposed massive sanctions on
Russia since Putin’s decision to invade his neighbor, while shipping weapons to
Ukraine’s defenders. But they have moved slowly on
hitting Moscow’s vast gas exports, with many EU members — notably industrial
giant Germany — reliant on Russian energy to keep their lights on. Putin has
attempted to turn up the pressure by insisting that Russia will only accept
payments for gas in rubles — hoping to force his foes to prop up his currency.
Gazprom announced the halt of gas to both Poland and highly dependent
Bulgaria, saying it had not received payment in rubles from the two EU members.
But von der Leyen said that “about 97 percent” of all EU contracts
explicitly stipulate payments in euros or dollars — and warned importing firms
off paying in rubles.
“This would be a breach of the sanctions,” she told reporters.
The European Commission on Wednesday sought to lend Kyiv economic support by
proposing a suspension of import duties on Ukrainian goods, but the idea still
needs to be approved in a vote by the bloc’s 27 members.
The first phase of Russia’s invasion failed to reach Kyiv and to
overthrow President Zelensky’s government after encountering stiff Ukrainian
resistance reinforced with Western weapons. The campaign has refocused on
seizing the east and south of the country, while increased the use of long-range
missile strikes against west and central Ukraine to counter the Western
response.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov predicted “extremely difficult
weeks” for the country amid “destruction and painful casualties” during the
offensive. Russia’s defense ministry said its forces
had destroyed a “large batch” of weapons and ammunition supplied by the United
States and European countries. Russia hit hangars at
an aluminum plant near the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia with “high-precision
long-range sea-based Kalibr missiles,” the ministry said.
It also accused Ukraine of preparing to stage a fake civilian massacre in
Lysychansk by disguising the bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers in civilian
clothing and taking them to the city’s central market. On Tuesday, at a summit
in Germany of 40 Western allies to discuss arming Ukraine, Washington pledged to
move “heaven and earth” to enable Kyiv to emerge victorious from the war.
Tensions are also rising in a breakaway region of Moldova bordering southwestern
Ukraine. In the region, Transnistria, pro-Russian separatists claimed shots were
fired across the border toward a village housing a Russian arms depot, after
drones flew over from Ukraine. Britain was set Wednesday to urge Kyiv’s allies
to “ramp up” military production including tanks and planes to help Ukraine,
with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss set to call for a “new approach” to confront
Putin. Fighting continues to rage across Ukraine’s east, Kyiv’s defense ministry
said, as it confirmed Russian forces had seized several villages in their
renewed bid to “liberate” the Donbas region. The ministry said a pair of
villages in the north-eastern Kharkiv region and two in the Donetsk region had
fallen. Meanwhile, three people died and 15 others
were injured in bombings around the eastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second
city, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said.
Moscow aims to create a land bridge between territory held by pro-Russian
separatists in parts of the Donbas and the Russian-annexed Black Sea peninsula
of Crimea. Separately, Moscow also said it was
expelling eight Japanese diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to expulsions by
Tokyo over the conflict in Ukraine.The UN tourism body added to Russia’s
isolation on the international scene as most of its 159 members on Wednesday
voted to suspend it from the agency. (With AFP and AP)
Russia declines Germany's ruble payment for gas after cutting off supplies to
Poland and Bulgaria, report says
Phil Rosen/Business Insider/Wed, April 27, 2022
Russia's Gazprombank turned down a ruble payment from a trading
firm Germany had seized from Moscow, Bloomberg reported. The payment was for
some April and May gas deliveries to Germany and Austria. On Wednesday, Russia
halted gas supplies for Poland and Bulgaria. Russia's Gazprombank turned down a
ruble payment from a trading firm Germany had seized from Moscow, sources told
Bloomberg.The payment for some April and May gas deliveries to Germany and
Austria was rejected even though the trading firm — Gazprom Marketing & Trading
(GM&T) — offered to pay in rubles, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has
demanded. GM&T previously was controlled by the German subsidiary of Russian
state-run Gazprom, but Germany took over the unit in April. Now, the rejected
ruble payment suggests Moscow looks to shut out a German-controlled GM&T.
The trading firm, which is among many that import gas to Germany,
is still in talks with Gazprombank to push the transaction through, sources told
Bloomberg.The standoff comes as the Kremlin uses its energy exports to retaliate
against Western nations that have imposed sanctions on Russia for its war on
Ukraine.On Wednesday, Moscow halted natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria,
sending European gas prices up 28% and adding to concerns that Putin could
target other nations on the continent. Gazprom said the reason for the gas halt
is that both countries failed to pay in rubles. Meanwhile, four European gas
buyers have paid Russia in rubles for supplies, complying with Moscow's demands,
according to Bloomberg, which also said 10 European countries have opened
accounts at Gazprombank to make ruble payments.
Russia warns Poland, Bulgaria of gas supply cuts on Wednesday
Reuters/Wed, April 27, 2022
Russian energy giant Gazprom has told Poland and Bulgaria it will
halt gas supplies from Wednesday, in a major escalation of Russia's broader row
with the West over its invasion of Ukraine. Poland and Bulgaria would be the
first countries to have their gas cut off by Europe's main supplier since Moscow
started what it calls a military operation in Ukraine on Feb. 24. The move to
cut off supplies also followed sanctions imposed by Warsaw against Russian
individuals and companies. Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that
countries he terms "unfriendly" agree to a scheme under which they would open
accounts at Gazprombank and make payments for Russian gas imports in euros or
dollars that would be converted into roubles. Last week, the European Commission
said EU companies may be able to work around Russia's demand to receive gas
payments in roubles without breaching sanctions if they pay in euros or dollars
which are then converted into the Russian currency.Poland is a staunch political
opponent of Moscow. Polish gas company PGNiG, whose gas deal with Russia expires
at the end of this year, has said it would not comply with the new scheme of
payment and would not extend the contract. It also did not extend its gas
transit deal with Gazprom in 2020. Since then, the Russian gas provider had to
take part in auctions for pipeline capacity via the Yamal-Europe pipeline from
Belarus to Poland.Poland's gas supply contract with Gazprom is for 10.2 billion
cubic meters (bcm) per year, and covers about 50% of national consumption.
Earlier, data from the European Union network of gas transmission operators
showed physical gas flows via the Yamal-Europe route had halted, but they
resumed later on Tuesday. Poland's energy supplies are secure, its climate
ministry said, adding that there was no need to draw from gas reserves and that
gas to consumers would not be cut. Gazprom also informed
Bulgarian state gas company Bulgargaz it will halt gas supplies from Wednesday,
the energy ministry said. Bulgaria also had a contract due to expire at the end
of the year. It meets over 90% of its gas needs with Gazprom's imports at around
3 bcm a year. Tom Marzec-Manser, head of gas analytics at data intelligence firm
ICIS, said: "This is a seismic warning shot by Russia.""Poland has had an
anti-Russia and anti-Gazprom stance for a number of years, which is not the case
for Bulgaria, so to see Bulgaria also be cut off is also quite a development in
its own right," he added.
ALTERNATIVES
Poland said it can source gas via two links with Germany
including a reverse flow on the Yamal pipeline, a link with Lithuania with an
annual capacity of 2.5 bcm that will open on May 1 and via an interconnector
with the Czech Republic for up to 1.5 bcm.
Another 5-6 bcm could be shipped via a link with Slovakia to be
opened later this year. In addition, PGNiG can import up to 6 bcm per year via
the LNG terminal in Swinoujscie on the Baltic Sea, and it produces more than 3
bcm of gas per year locally in Poland. In October, a pipeline allowing up to 10
bcm of gas per year to flow between Poland and Norway, will be opened.
Government officials said Poland's gas storage of 3.5 bcm is 76% full and it
will not have to cut supplies to customers to cope with Gazprom supply
halt.Meanwhile, Bulgaria said it has taken steps to find alternative gas supply
and no restrictions on gas consumption was required for now. Analysts at
investment bank Jefferies said the cut-off warning increases the risk of other
early terminations for other European contracts due to expire by the year end,
amounting to nearly 12 bcm a year. Only a few Russian gas buyers, such as
Hungary and Uniper, Germany's main importer of Russian gas, have said it would
be possible to pay for future supplies under the scheme announced by Moscow
without breaching European Union sanctions. Germany's network regulator said it
was monitoring the gas delivery situation from Russia after the threat to Poland
supplies, adding that supply to Germany was currently guaranteed. PGNiG said on
Tuesday it would take steps to reinstate the flow of gas according to the Yamal
contract and that any halt of supplies was a breach of that contract, adding
that it has the right to pursue damages over breach of contract.
Earlier on Tuesday, Poland announced a list of 50 Russian
oligarchs and companies, including Gazprom, that would be subject to sanctions
under a law passed earlier this month allowing their assets to be frozen. The
law is separate from sanctions imposed jointly by EU countries. Gas traders said
the Dutch gas market, the European benchmark, moved up near the end of trade on
Tuesday. The front-month Dutch gas contract settled around 5.4% higher at 98.20
euros/MWh.
The 'beginning of the end' for Putin began 'some time ago,' and the Ukraine war
'speeds up his demise,' top Navalny aide says
John Haltiwanger/Business Insider/Wed, April 27, 2022
Putin's unprovoked war in Ukraine "speeds up his demise,"
according to a top aide to Alexei Navalny."The people in the political and
economic elite have seen their lifestyles turned upside down," Vladimir Ashurkov
told Insider.
The war has united much of the world against Russia, isolating
Moscow politically and economically. Russian President Vladimir Putin has
accelerated his own downfall by launching an unprovoked war in Ukraine,
according to top aide of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
"The beginning of the end of Putin started some time ago. But I'm confident that
this war has made many people in Russia and outside of Russia unhappy with him.
The people in the political and economic elite have seen their lifestyles turned
upside down, their fortunes decimated," Vladimir Ashurkov, the executive
director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, told Insider. Putin's war in
Ukraine has led countries across the globe to impose broad, unprecedented
economic sanctions on Russia. The conflict has united the West in major ways,
and reinvigorated NATO. The international community has also turned against
Moscow, with the UN General Assembly voting to suspend Russia from the UN Human
Rights Council in early April.Two months after the February 24 invasion, the
Russian military has struggled to make any major gains and has turned its
attention to the eastern Donbas region after failing to take Kyiv. It's
estimated that up to 15,000 Russia troops have been killed in Ukraine so far,
with a staggering number of Russian generals among the dead. Average Russians
are seeing brands they have become accustomed to like McDonald's and IKEA leave
their country because of the war, and inflation is soaring to record levels.
Even with Navalny jailed, the Kremlin critic's organization
senses an opportunity and is working to counter Russian propaganda that obscures
or denies the brutal realities of the Ukraine war, while continuing to
investigate corruption among Putin's inner circle.
"This makes Putin highly unpopular and it affects everybody. I do
believe that this speeds up his demise," Ashurkov said. 'It was never really
easy for Russian opposition ever'
But taking down Putin, who has been in power for roughly two
decades, will not happen overnight. The Russian leader has gone to extraordinary
lengths to quash opposition and stifle dissent. Navalny, the Kremlin's most
prominent critic, is a prime example. The anti-corruption campaigner was
poisoned in Siberia with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in August 2020 and
nearly died. Putin has been condemned worldwide over Navalny's poisoning, though
he's denied any involvement.
After receiving treatment in Germany, Navalny returned to Moscow
in early 2021 and was promptly arrested. He was sentenced to two and a half
years in prison for violating parole, including during treatment in Germany,
from a 2014 embezzlement conviction. His imprisonment led to mass protests in
Russia. Last month, Navalny saw nine years added to his sentence by a judge who
was personally promoted by Putin to a higher court just days before. Human
rights groups have decried the charges against Navalny as politically
motivated.Meanwhile, Navalny has continued to criticize Putin from prison and
has called on Russians to vehemently oppose the Ukraine war. And though
Navalny's political network was banned in Russia last year after being dubbed
"extremist," his foundation has not ceased its efforts to expose corruption
Erdogan Threatens to Expand Operations Against Kurds in Northern Syria
Ankara, Idlib - Saeed Abdulrazek and Firas Karam/Asharq
Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to expand military
operations against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after a Turkish policeman
was killed in the northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo governorate. The
development took place in wake of the killing and injury of several SDF members
in a Turkish raid on the northern Aleppo countryside. The raid was the latest in
the escalation between Turkey and the Ankara-backed Syrian National Army and the
SDF the zones of influence held by the two sides in the northwest.
Erdogan said his country would not be satisfied with striking SDF
positions in response to the group’s repeated attacks against residential areas
and Turkish forces positions in the Aleppo countryside.Commenting on the
Claw-Lock military operation against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in
northern Iraq, Erdogan stated: “The more our forces tighten the screws on the
terrorist organization (PKK) there, the organization will intensify its attacks
on the areas that Turkey protects in Syria.” He added, after a cabinet meeting
in Ankara overnight on Monday, that the recent SDF attacks led to the killing of
a Turkish policeman from the Special Operations Forces, stressing that Turkey
“has the strength, will and firmness necessary to ensure its own security, and
will not allow the establishment of a terrorist corridor on its southern
borders.” The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced
the launch of a large-scale military operation against the SDF in the Aleppo
countryside in response to the killing of the policeman. Turkish forces and
their Syrian allies struck several villages in the north of Raqqa. One resident
was killed in the Turkish attack on the village of Bandar Khan in the
countryside of Tal Abyad. Turkey has escalated its attacks against SDF positions
since the beginning of April. At the same time, Turkish forces continue to
strengthen their positions in de-escalation zones in Syria’s Idlib by bringing
in dozens of military and logistical vehicles and equipment to the area. On
Tuesday, a convoy of 40 armored vehicles and eight trucks loaded with supplies
entered the Bab al-Hawa border crossing in Idlib.
Sinai Tribes Union Announces Death of Three Terrorists
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
The Sinai Tribes Union, an amalgamation of tribes cooperating with Egyptian
security authorities in northern Sinai, announced that three “prominent”
terrorist elements were killed on Monday. The Union
identified in a statement one of the terrorists as Shaaban Abu Draa, a military
emir, noting that six of its members were killed during the operation. The army
and police forces have been carrying out a major security operation in North and
Central Sinai since February 2018 to purge the area from members of the Ansar
Beit al-Maqdis group, which changed its name to Sinai Province after pledging
allegiance to ISIS in 2014. According to observers and security experts, the
pace of terrorist attacks against security forces in Sinai has recently
decreased, thanks to the pre-emptive raids on the locations of terrorist
elements. These developments come a day after the
country celebrated the Sinai Liberation Day, during which Egyptian President
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi affirmed that reconstructing the peninsula is key to defend
it. The cabinet’s Media Center said the country has
“put the Sinai Peninsula on the path of real development and proceeded to launch
giant national projects in various sectors.” The development plan includes
investments amounting to more than 700 billion Egyptian pounds and are set to be
implemented within an eight-year period.
UN Focuses on Al-Aqsa Mosque’s Sanctity amid Fears of
Escalation
Washington - Ali Barada/Asharq
Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
Israeli violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque and other holy sites in Jerusalem
were the key focus of the United Nations Security Council’s monthly session on
Monday. Speakers called on the need to uphold the historic and legal status quo
to avoid escalation. The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process,
Tor Wennesland, urged the conflicting parties to maintain calm through the final
week of Ramadan so that Muslims can celebrate without interruption. Wennesland
made his remarks via videoconference from Jerusalem, underlining the need to end
the occupation and advance towards a two-state reality. He expressed the UN’s
determination to support Israelis and Palestinians in moving towards that
future. “In Jerusalem, the situation remains relatively calm despite
inflammatory rhetoric and violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli
security forces that have taken place at the holy sites,” he noted. Wennesland
further stressed that the launching of rockets in Gaza undermines the fragile
stability that has prevailed since May. He reiterated
that political, religious and community leaders on all sides must continue do
their part to reduce tensions, uphold the status quo at the holy sites, and
ensure their sanctity is respected by all.
The UN official pointed out that daily violence escalated sharply in the
occupied Palestinian territory and in Israel. He said
that 23 Palestinians, including three women and four children, were killed by
Israeli forces during demonstrations, clashes, search-and-arrest operations,
attacks and alleged attacks against Israelis, and other incidents in the
occupied West Bank, while 541 Palestinians, including 30 women and 80 children,
were injured. On the other hand, 12 Israelis,
including two women, as well as three foreign nationals, were killed and 82
Israelis, including some six children and four women, as well one foreign
national, were injured by Palestinians in shooting, stabbing and ramming
attacks, clashes, the throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails, and other
incidents.
He called for holding perpetrators of all acts of violence accountable and
brought swiftly to justice, adding that he is particularly appalled that
children continue to be killed and injured. Permanent
Observer of the State of Palestine Riyad Mansour, for his part, said the
“Palestinian people ask you: how come Israel gets away with murder, in broad
daylight, while everyone is watching?” Stressing that
there can be no equation between a colonial power and a colonized people, he
added that a rules-based multilateral order does not mean that one party gets to
set the rules while others must observe them. Israel’s
representative Gilad Erdan said Israel will not allow any radical group to
violate the status quo and incite violence. Meanwhile,
Jordan’s deputy permanent representative to the UN Sudqi Omoush said the
Jordanian Administration of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf is the only entity
authorized to manage the affairs of the Aqsa Mosque compound in its entirety,
calling for a genuine political solution that will fulfil the legitimate rights
of the Palestinian people. He urged Israel to allow
free access to the Aqsa Mosque compound and lift the restrictive barriers.
Osama Abdelkhalek of Egypt linked the current incidents to those that
took place in 2021 and led to hundreds of deaths and injuries.
He pointed out that the continued attempts to “Judaize” East Jerusalem
portend a dangerous escalation, underscoring the need to respect the status quo
of holy sites in Jerusalem. The UAE’s deputy
representative called for taking advantage of all available diplomatic means to
restore calm. For his part, the Arab League Permanent
Observer, Maged Abdelfattah, called on the Security Council to take several
urgent steps aimed at restoring Arab confidence in the UN and the peace process.
While the Charge d'Affaires of Saudi Arabia’s Mission to the UN Mohammed
Alateek condemned the violence that took place in the prayer halls of the Aqsa
Mosque compound during the sacred month of Ramadan. He called on the
international community to hold the Israeli authorities accountable for such
aggression against Palestinians, their territories and holy sites.
UN Invites Syrian Opponents to Constitution Talks on May
28
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday,
27 April, 2022
The UN special envoy for Syria announced Tuesday that he has sent invitations to
the Syrian government and the opposition for an eighth round of talks starting
in late May, aimed at revising the constitution of the conflict-torn country.
Geir Pedersen told the UN Security Council that agreement on a revised
constitution could contribute to a political solution of the 11-year conflict.
He said the seventh session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee ended
on March 25, with delegations offering "at least some revisions to some of the
texts presented." Pedersen said deputy special envoy
Khawla Matar visited Damascus and Istanbul afterward for further discussions
with the committee’s co-chairs and he had issued invitations for the eighth
session Tuesday from May 28 to June 3 in Geneva. He
stressed that the drafting process will only move forward if the committee’s
work is "governed by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement aimed at
reaching general agreement of its members." A 2012 UN
roadmap to peace in Syria approved by representatives of the United Nations,
Arab League, European Union, Turkey and all five permanent Security Council
members calls for the drafting of a new constitution. It ends with UN-supervised
elections with all Syrians, including members of the diaspora, eligible to
participate. A Security Council resolution adopted in December 2015 unanimously
endorsed the roadmap. At a Russia-hosted Syrian peace
conference in January 2018, an agreement was reached to form a 150-member
committee to draft a new constitution. A smaller, 45-member body would do the
actual drafting, including 15 members each from the government, opposition and
civil society. It took until September 2019 for the committee to be formed and
little progress has been achieved so far. Pedersen
stressed to the council in a video briefing that "Syria is a hot conflict, not a
frozen one."He said airstrikes have increased in the northwest, there have been
intensified clashes around Afrin and the northeast, and continued exchanges of
rocket fire and shelling across all frontlines as well as improvised explosive
devices, car bombs and other security incidents.
Pedersen urged the council to focus on Syria.
"The current strategic stalemate on the ground and Syria’s absence from the
headlines should not mislead anyone into thinking that the conflict needs less
attention or fewer resources, or that a political settlement is not urgent," he
said. "Indeed, a conflict of this scale requires a comprehensive solution" in
line with the 2012 roadmap. While the war in Ukraine
is quickly catching up, Pedersen said "Syria remains the biggest displacement
crisis in the world" with 6.8 million refugees and 6.2 million people displaced
in the country -- "half the pre-war population."
Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya also warned
that as the world turns to other conflicts "Syria is on the verge of becoming
yet another forgotten crisis." "Yet millions of
Syrians struggle each month to survive, to feed their families and to provide a
future for their children," she said. "For many, their situation has never been
more dire since violence erupted in 2011." Msuya said
"a staggering 4.1 million people” in opposition-held northwest Syria need
humanitarian aid, with almost a million people, mainly women and children,
living in tents, "half of which are beyond their normal lifespan."
In early July 2020, China and Russia vetoed a UN resolution that would
have maintained two border crossing points from Turkey to deliver humanitarian
aid to Syria’s northwest Idlib. Days later, the council authorized the delivery
of aid through just one of those crossings, Bab al-Hawa. That one-year mandate
was extended for a year on July 9, 2021. Msuya told
the council that last year the UN sent some 800 trucks of cross-border aid to
the northwest each month, "consistently reaching 2.4 million people."
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has said aid should be controlled
by the Syrian government, its ally, and delivered across conflict lines.
Msuya said three cross-line convoys have been sent to the northwest but they
cannot substitute for cross-border aid deliveries at this point.
Nebenzia called this "mere unwillingness to solve the problem of
humanitarian deliveries from Damascus to Idlib." "Let
me be frank, in such circumstances, we can hardly see any reason why the
cross-border resolution should be renewed again," he said.
Canada imposes sanctions on 203 individuals complicit in
attempted annexation of certain areas of Donbass, Ukraine
April 27, 2022 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that
Canada is imposing new sanctions under the Special Economic Measures (Ukraine)
Regulations in response to President Putin’s illegal and unjustifiable invasion
of Ukraine.
These new measures impose restrictions on 11 senior officials and 192 other
members of the People’s Councils of the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s
Republics who are complicit in the Russian regime’s ongoing violations of
Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Russian regime’s attempted annexation of certain areas of Donbass is a
blatant violation of international law. Today’s measures apply further pressure
on President Putin and those complicit in the horrific events occurring in
Ukraine.
Canada continues to call for the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from
Ukrainian soil. Canada will coordinate further actions with its partners in the
international community and will continue to hold President Putin and his
accomplices accountable for this senseless war.
Canada will not stop putting pressure on the regime.
Quote
“Canada will not stand idly by and watch President Putin and his accomplices
attempt to redraw the borders of Ukraine with impunity. International law must
be respected. Canada is using every tool at its disposal to ensure that the
rules-based international order is upheld and that those complicit in violations
of international law answer for their crimes.”
- Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Quick facts
Since Russia’s illegal occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea in 2014,
Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 1,400 individuals and entities. Many
of these sanctions have been undertaken in coordination with Canada’s allies and
partners. Canada’s latest sanctions impose asset freezes and prohibitions on
listed individuals and entities.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Canada has imposed
sanctions on nearly 1,000 individuals and entities from Russia, Ukraine and
Belarus.
In March 2022, Canada has referred the situation in Ukraine to the International
Criminal Court (ICC), in concert with other ICC member states, in light of the
numerous allegations of serious international crimes committed by Russian forces
in Ukraine, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 27-28/2022
France Is Still in Trouble
Philippe Marlière/The New York Times/April 27/2022
France can breathe again.
On Sunday, President Emmanuel Macron was re-elected, taking 58.5 percent of the
vote to Marine Le Pen’s 41.5 percent. After a couple of agonizing weeks where
the country contemplated the possibility of the presidency falling to the far
right, the result seemed to herald the return to business as usual.
Yet it would be premature to celebrate. French democracy, in truth, has never
been in worse health. Mr. Macron scored two million fewer votes than he did in
2017, and the two major parties of the postwar era, the Republicans and the
Socialists, have all but collapsed. In their wake, French politics is now driven
by three forces — headed by Mr. Macron, Ms. Le Pen and the leftist Jean-Luc
Mélenchon — pulling in opposite directions. Add in record levels of abstention,
and you have a recipe for instability.
But the problem goes beyond politics. Mr. Macron’s divisive presidency gave rise
to an extraordinary explosion of popular anger and resentment. This took many
forms, from the Yellow Vests protests — a movement initially against a rise in
the fuel tax that metastasized into all-out opposition to the president — to
bellicose culture wars. The French people have been at once animated and
anesthetized by the past five years. The national mood, given to febrile
outbursts and hurt withdrawals, is uneasy.
That brew of volatile feelings is not going anywhere. In the coming years, as
the country deals with the continued fallout from the pandemic, geopolitical
crises and price hikes, it may be given ample cause for expression. Mr. Macron
won, yes. But France is still in trouble.
To be sure, there were similar cries of despair in 2002, when Jean-Marie Le Pen
made it to the second round. But the situation then was much more contained: It
was considered a freak contest and a one-off accident. Jacques Chirac, who won a
resounding 82 percent, was so confident of victory that he refused to debate his
opponent. A million took to the streets of Paris to “stop Fascism,” and voters
flocked to Mr. Chirac, a center-right candidate, to ensure Mr. Le Pen had no
chance of victory.
Things looked very different this time. When Mr. Le Pen’s daughter, Marine, made
it to the second round for the second election in a row, nobody was surprised —
and nobody marched in protest. The “republican front,” an emergency coalition of
mainstream voters and parties against the far right, was weaker than it’s ever
been. Mr. Macron’s victory was for a time seriously in doubt and far from
emphatic when it did come. The far right may have been stopped at the ballot box
this time, but its ideas and candidates are now firmly part of the mainstream.
The election in 2017 looks, in retrospect, to have been a missed opportunity.
Mr. Macron, a political newcomer, spoke of upholding the French republican
values of liberty, equality and fraternity. He pledged to set up more democratic
political institutions and to hold elites accountable. He promised to tackle
France’s colonial legacy and acknowledged French cultural and religious
diversity. For many, it was a breath of fresh air. Here was a young president
with a mandate and a motive to renew French democracy and society.
It didn’t happen. Early in his tenure, Mr. Macron was compared with Justin
Trudeau, energetically bringing progressive reform to a tired country. Today Mr.
Macron’s critics see him as a very different leader: a French Margaret Thatcher.
His five years in office have been marked by contempt for democratic oversight,
condescension for the poor and cruelty toward migrants. In the process, he
disappointed and even enraged those who’d hoped he would be true to his campaign
promise to be the president for all.
Politically, the effects have been parlous. By siphoning off large chunks from
both center-left and center-right electorates, Mr. Macron helped bring about the
demise of France’s two major parties. As a result, politics has become
fragmented and debates have become polarized. Traditional party oppositions on
socio-economic matters have been supplanted by endless culture wars on Islam,
immigration and national identity. In this atmosphere, the left under Mr.
Mélenchon has radicalized, winning the support of the young and multiracial but
putting off more moderate left-wing voters.
The far right, for its part, has taken the opportunity to pose as the only
plausible opposition force to the president. In a disillusioned and dissatisfied
society, that’s found some purchase. Éric Zemmour, the media pundit turned
politician, led the way in staking out extreme positions on Islam and
immigration. Ms. Le Pen, softening her image, followed in his slipstream. The
strategy was successful: About a third of the electorate cast their votes in the
first round for the far right, an unprecedented high.
The upsurge of support for the far right is hardly straightforward. But it’s
clear that it expresses, among other things, an amorphous anger afoot across
France. The Yellow Vests, whose members came from across the political spectrum,
illustrated the depths of disquiet in the country — something the pandemic seems
only to have exacerbated. In the past two years, a forceful anti-vaccine
movement has taken root. The old ideologies of socialism and conservatism have
been replaced by conspiracy theories and political confusion.
That’s dangerous. In the final two weeks of the campaign, Mr. Macron offered
concessions to the left, among them revising a planned pension reform and
committing anew to environmental protections. Already superficial, these
promises do little to suggest the president will change course. If he doesn’t,
the anger and bitterness of his compatriots will surely swell. That could spell
more radicalized social movements from the left and rancorous resentment from
the far right. Legislative elections in June could be an early taste of the
difficulties to come.
Far from a model democracy, France is a country ill at ease with pluralism,
multiculturalism and political liberalism — a condition revealed by the steady
rise of the far right. That’s bad enough. But it’s hard to dispel the feeling
that something worse may be around the corner.
Finland Will Strengthen NATO
Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone
Institute/April 27/2022
Finland, throughout the Cold War, technically maintained its neutrality, but
since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it has dropped all pretense of official
non-alignment. Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin has indicated that a
decision on whether to apply for membership in NATO will be made "within weeks
not months." Marin added, "There is no other way to have security guarantees
than under NATO's deterrence and common defense as under NATO's "Article 5" --
NATO's 30 member nation-state pledge, that "an attack on one is an attack on
all."
Finland, which is expected soon to join NATO, would be the most militarily
valuable member-state to join the alliance since it was formed in 1949, and the
only NATO member to have successfully engaged the Russian military in combat.
Pictured: NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, after the opening ceremony at
the 2018 NATO Summit. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Finland, which is expected soon to join NATO, would be the most militarily
valuable member-state to join the alliance since it was formed in 1949, and the
only NATO member to have successfully engaged the Russian military in combat.
Finland has fought two wars with the former Red Army. The first, the "Winter
War", commenced with a Russian invasion in November 1939, with the Finns,
despite overwhelming odds, performing remarkably well. The second Finno-Russian
War ("Continuation War") began when Soviet planes bombed Finnish cities in June
1941.
Finland, which invests more than NATO required 2% of GDP in its military, will
bring to the alliance a wealth of experience in intelligence and Arctic warfare
to the Western alliance. Part of Finland's 830-mile border with Russia runs
within 20 miles of Russia's second city, St. Petersburg. The Finns have the
largest military reserve force in Europe -- capable of quickly mobilizing about
280,000 troops in a crisis. One estimate suggests that Finland has the ability
to place one million troops in the field in a war -- nearly 20% of the country's
5.5 million population. The Finnish constitution obligates universal male
conscription. All males from 18 to 60 are liable to a call-up in a national
emergency, and the idea of female mobilization has been floated in Finnish
political circles. Finland also has a well-trained civil defense force supported
by a nationwide complex of deep underground shelters, car parks and garages.
Helsinki, the capital city, features about 10 square miles of sub-surface
facilities stocked with foodstuffs and fresh water.
Finnish soldiers are familiar with NATO weapons systems and have staged training
exercises with alliance militaries in the Arctic and Baltic Regions. Finnish
military personnel have also helped train anti-Taliban Afghan fighters in
Afghanistan. The Finnish Air Force recently replaced its F-18 fighters with
F-35s. Finland's special contributions to the NATO alliance, in addition to its
excellent air force, includes its superb winter warfare capabilities. US Marine
Corps fighter pilots have exercised with Finland's Karelia Air Command at
Rissala Air Base.
Finland, although neutral, is not pacifist. Finnish governments have supported
European-wide and regional defense initiatives. Finland has pledged military
participation in the European Intervention Initiative (EI2), a defense
institution designed to increase Europe's operational readiness in a crisis.
This concept was proffered by French President Emmanuel Macron in September
2017, and led to a subsequent meeting of 10 European defense ministers in June
2018. The EI2, which now has thirteen members, is exploring possible military
contingencies which could require a Europe-only deployment. Finland is also
active in the "Joint Expeditionary Forces" (JEF), a UK-led European initiative
to stage multinational exercises. It consists of another sub-NATO military
coalition of 10 northern European countries, and is designed to mobilize quickly
to meet humanitarian or combat operational contingencies. In addition, Finland
is one of the five member-state Nordic Defense Cooperation (NORDEFCO), which
includes Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark. NORDEFCO has as its objective
maximizing cooperation on region-wide defense issues, stressing weapons
inter-operability, cost effectiveness, and efficient allocation of military
related resources.
Russia has already issued retaliatory threats should Finland or Sweden join
NATO. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that any hope for a Baltic
Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (BNWFZ), supported by Finnish and Swedish diplomats,
would collapse. In addition, Putin disingenuously stated that Russia would
deploy nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between Poland and
Lithuania. US and NATO strategic planners assume that Moscow already has nukes
sequestered in Kaliningrad, capable of being affixed to the Iskandar short range
ballistic missiles deployed there.
Finland, throughout the Cold War, technically maintained its neutrality, but
since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it has dropped all pretense of official
non-alignment. Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin has indicated that a
decision on whether to apply for membership in NATO will be made "within weeks
not months." Marin added, "There is no other way to have security guarantees
than under NATO's deterrence and common defense as under NATO's "Article 5" --
NATO's 30 member nation-state pledge, that "an attack on one is an attack on
all."
*Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer
for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S.
Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved.
The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or
of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents
may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of
Gatestone Institute.
Turkey Escalating Aggression against Greece: 90
Overflights in One Day
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/April 27/2022
Turkish military aircraft violated Greek airspace 90 times in one day, on April
15, and conducted three overflights of inhabited Greek islands, according to
Greek media.
Turkish aircraft have, in fact, been violating Greek airspace almost non-stop
since the beginning of the year. In fact, Turkey -- both its government and
political opposition -- has for years openly been threatening to capture Greek
islands in the Aegean Sea.... Russia's invasion of Ukraine seems to offer a
convenient precedent for Turkey to increase its military aggression against
Greece.
"Once again we wish to reiterate that sovereignty over the islands, islets and
rocks of the Aegean was ceded to Greece definitively and unconditionally by the
above Treaties and any interpretation against the letter or spirit of these
fundamental Treaties would amount to an unauthorized attempt to unilaterally
review and modify them." — Greece's Permanent Representative to the United
Nations, Maria Theofili.
The legal status of the Greek islands in the Aegean is clear: The Treaty of
Lausanne set the borders of Turkey and Greece, with the exception of the
then-Italian occupied Dodecanese islands that reunited with Greece in 1947
following the signing of the Paris Peace Treaty between Italy and the World War
II Allies.
Greek sovereignty over those islands is stipulated by international conventions:
The 1923 Lausanne Treaty, the 1936 Montreux Treaty, and the 1947 Paris Treaty.
Sadly, Turkey appears to have an expansionist agenda that has a centuries-long
history and that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has articulated.
Greece does not have such an agenda. Greece has not been busy invading or
threatening its neighbors or other nations in the Middle East.
Turkey, however, invaded northern Cyprus in 1974, forcibly displaced the Greek
Christians living there, and has been maneuvering to acquire the rest. In 2018,
Turkey also invaded northern Syria and, using jihadist paramilitary forces, has
been occupying the region ever since.
Turkish military aircraft violated Greek airspace 90 times on April 15, and
conducted three overflights of inhabited Greek islands, according to Greek
media. Turkish aircraft have, in fact, been violating Greek airspace almost
non-stop since the beginning of the year. Turkey has for years openly been
threatening to capture Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. Pictured: A Turkish Air
Force F-16 over Eskisehir, Turkey, on September 13, 2020. (Photo by Adem
Altan/AFP via Getty Images)
While the world has been distracted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Turkey, a
member of the NATO alliance, has been busy harassing another NATO member, its
Western neighbor, Greece.
Turkish military aircraft violated Greek airspace 90 times in one day, on April
15, and conducted three overflights of inhabited Greek islands, according to
Greek media.
Turkish aircraft have, in fact, been violating Greek airspace almost non-stop
since the beginning of the year.
According to Greece's National Defense General Staff, Turkey violated Greek
airspace every single day from April 11-13. Its F-16 fighter jets flew above the
Greek islands of Panagia, Oinousses, and Farmakonisi. "The Turkish jets were
identified and intercepted by Greek fighter jets as laid out by international
law and practice," the newspaper Kathimerini reported.
Meanwhile, on March 31, Turkish weapons manufacturer and defense contractor
Roketsan, a subsidiary of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, introduced its
new missile with a video targeting a Greek island in the Aegean Sea.
The news website Nordic Monitor reported:
"A simulation video produced for the promotion of the new missile includes
messages for Greece. Military experts speaking to Nordic Monitor state that
large arms-producing companies similar to Roketsan have made more global
promotions for their international customers but that Turkish companies have
been producing simulations targeting Greece and other neighbors for years.
"Experts who analyzed the images for Nordic Monitor said the location from where
the missiles are fired in the video is the coast of Çeşme in the west of Turkey
and that the satellite map in the video has been reproduced with minor changes.
"They also state that the real islet and rocky images visually featured in the
video confirm that they are the shores of Çeşme. In this case, the place shown
as the enemy in the video is the Greek island of Chios, which is 4.1 miles from
the Turkish coast.
"In the video, the Turkish side appears subliminally to be friendly forces, or
according to military terminology, as blue forces, while the other side is
defined by the color red, which means enemy.
"In this case, it is certainly no coincidence that the missiles were fired from
east to west in the video. In such videos, missile simulations are generally
from left to right, but in the ÇAKIR video, missiles are fired from right to
left and enemy targets are destroyed, giving a subliminal message that the
target is Greece."
In fact, Turkey -- both its government and political opposition -- has for years
openly been threatening to capture Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. And as
Turkey's recent violations of Greek airspace, the Roketsan video, and statements
by Turkish officials demonstrate, Russia's invasion of Ukraine seems to offer a
convenient precedent for Turkey to increase its military aggression against
Greece.
Turkey claims that Greece has been violating international agreements by
stationing troops and armaments in the eastern islands in the Aegean Sea. Greece
has repeatedly dismissed these charges by responding that as long as there is a
Turkish military threat to these islands they will not be demilitarized.
The legal status of the Greek islands in the Aegean is clear: The Treaty of
Lausanne set the borders of Turkey and Greece, with the exception of the
then-Italian occupied Dodecanese islands that reunited with Greece in 1947
following the signing of the Paris Peace Treaty between Italy and the World War
II Allies.
Greek sovereignty over those islands is stipulated by international conventions:
The 1923 Lausanne Treaty, the 1936 Montreux Treaty, and the 1947 Paris Treaty.
In July of 2021, however, Turkey filed a complaint with the UN concerning the
issue. The letter, addressed to Secretary General Antonio Guterres and signed by
Feridun Sinirlioğlu, Permanent Representative of Turkey to the UN, stated:
"Upon instructions from my Government, I should like to once more bring to your
attention the continuing flagrant violations by Greece of her solemn treaty
obligations in both the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea concerning those
islands over which sovereignty was ceded to Greece on the specific and strict
condition that they be kept demilitarized...
"Greece's continuing deliberate and persistent material breach of the
demilitarization provisions of the Lausanne and Paris peace treaties, which are
essential to the accomplishment of their object and purpose, constitutes a
serious threat to the security of Turkey."
In response, Greece's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Maria
Theofili, sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which stated,
in part:
"The arguments contained in the above Turkish letter that sovereignty over the
Greek islands of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean was ceded to Greece by the
Treaty of Lausanne of 24 July 1923 and the Treaty of Paris of 10 February 1947
'... on the specific and strict condition that they be kept demilitarized,' are
not only manifestly unsubstantiated and unfounded but also legally and
historically incorrect. Once again we wish to reiterate that sovereignty over
the islands, islets and rocks of the Aegean was ceded to Greece definitively and
unconditionally by the above Treaties and any interpretation against the letter
or spirit of these fundamental Treaties would amount to an unauthorized attempt
to unilaterally review and modify them."
In January a video was featured in the Turkish media which argues that Turkish
naval academy students could easily reach the Greek island of Kastellorizo
("Meis" in Turkish) by swimming there from Turkey. The video was also published
on the official Twitter account of Turkey's Defense Ministry. The video starts
with Turkey's National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar stating:
"There is Meis Island, 1950 meters from Turkey. The swimming standard of our
Military Academy students is 2,000 meters. So they can go there by swimming."
The video then shows some Turkish military students swimming to the Tuzla
island, which is also 1,950 meters from Istanbul, where they are located.
If Turkey has no military or aggressive ambitions towards those Greek islands,
why does it so intractably want no Greek military presence on those islands that
are legally Greek territory?
Sadly, Turkey appears to have an expansionist agenda that has a centuries-long
history and that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has articulated.
Greece does not have such an agenda. Greece has not been busy invading or
threatening its neighbors or other nations in the Middle East.
Turkey, however, invaded northern Cyprus in 1974, forcibly displaced the Greek
Christians living there, and has been maneuvering to acquire the rest. In 2018,
Turkey also invaded northern Syria and, using jihadist paramilitary forces, has
been occupying the region ever since.
As Turkey's economy keeps declining, so does the Turkish public's support for
the government. According to a 2021 survey by the Yoneylem polling group, 53% of
Turkish citizens have lost confidence in the Turkish president. According to the
ORC polling company's surveys between February 2021 and March 2022, Turkey's
ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost votes every single month in the
past year. Is it possible then that the Turkish government feels the need for a
military victory against Greece, to increase Erdogan's votes in the upcoming
2023 parliamentary election?
In addition, 2023 will mark the centenary of the founding of the Republic of
Turkey and the signing of the Lausanne Treaty. Erdogan stated that his
government has set some goals for 2023. Given the Turkish government's actions
and statements, these goals are likely to include territorial expansion. On
October 19, Erdogan said:
"[In 1914] Our territories were as large as 2.5 million square kilometers, and
after nine years at the time of the Lausanne Treaty it diminished to 780,000
square kilometers.... To insist on [the 1923 borders] is the greatest injustice
to be done to the country and to the nation. While everything is changing in
today's world, we cannot see to preserving our status of 1923 as a success."
On October 22, 2016, he said:
"We did not accept our borders voluntarily... At the time [when the current
borders were drawn] we may have agreed to it but the real mistake is to
surrender to that sacrifice."
The previous month, Erdogan directly referred to the islands in the Aegean,
saying:
"You can see the Aegean now, right? In Lausanne. we gave away those islands
where your shout here [in Turkey] can be heard over there. Is this victory?
Those places used to belong to us."
In an interview on state broadcaster TRT on February 10, Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said:
"We have sent two letters to the UN because these islands were given to Greece
with the 1923 Lausanne Treaty and the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty on the condition
that it not arm them. But Greece started to violate that in the '60s.... These
islands were ceded conditionally. If Greece does not stop, the sovereignty of
these islands will be questioned.... If necessary, we will issue a final
warning."
In response, the Lead Spokesperson for External Affairs of the European Union
Peter Spano issued a statement, saying:
"Greece's sovereignty over these islands is unquestionable. Turkey should
respect it, refrain from provocative statements and actions in this regard,
commit unequivocally to good neighborly relations and work to settle any
disputes peacefully. International agreements must be respected."
Turkish authorities, however, continue targeting the Greek islands. On February
18, Erdogan said:
"It is not possible for us to remain silent about the military activities
carried out in violation of the agreements on the islands with a disarmed
status. As a matter of fact, we brought this issue to the agenda of the United
Nations. It will also be on the agenda in the coming period."
Despite an agreement to respect major national and religious holidays between
the two countries, Turkey entered Greek airspace 37 times with F-16 fighter jets
and CN 235 transport planes on January 6, on the day of Epiphany, the day that
Orthodox Christians celebrate the manifestation of Christ. On February 7, Turkey
violated the Greek airspace 60 times in a single day. On March 14, a day after
the leaders of Greece and Turkey met in Istanbul and agreed to reduce tensions
in the Aegean, Greek military sources revealed that there were 25 violations of
Greek airspace by Turkey.
Meanwhile, Greek foreign minister Nikos Dendias described Turkey's stance on
Greece as "the epitome of irrationality," adding:
"Turkey has lined up across our islands the largest landing force and largest
landing fleet in the Mediterranean while demanding that we demilitarize our
islands – in other words, that we relinquish our recognized right to
self-defense, as foreseen in the UN Charter."
Turkey's aggression against the Greek islands and the rest of Greece should be
analyzed within its historical context that includes Turkish conquests,
imperialism, and Islamization throughout the centuries. Turks, originally from
central Asia, invaded Asia Minor, which was then within the borders of the Greek
Byzantine Empire, in the 11th century and began conquering and Turkifying it.
The Ottoman Turks invaded the then Greek city of Constantinople (today's
Istanbul) in the 15th century and destroyed the Byzantine Empire. After nearly
four centuries of Ottoman oppression, the Greeks won independence as a result of
the War of Independence (1821-32) and became the first of the Ottoman Empire's
occupied peoples to secure recognition as a sovereign nation.
From 1913 to 1923, the Greeks in Anatolia that remained under the Ottoman
Turkish rule were subjected to genocide, which almost completely eradicated
Anatolian Christians, including Armenians and Assyrians. The Turkish persecution
of Greeks and other Christians continued after the founding of the Republic of
Turkey in 1923 and culminated in the anti-Greek pogrom in Istanbul in 1955 and
the forced expulsion of virtually all remaining ethnic Greeks from Istanbul in
1964. Ten years later, Turkey invaded the north of the Republic of Cyprus and
has been illegally occupying 36 percent of it for the past 48 years.
Turkey's actions targeting Greece and Cyprus are about Turkey's desire for
geostrategic superiority in the region at the expense of international law as
well as about Turkish Islamic quest for expansionism and supremacy over Greeks
and other non-Turks in the region. Today, as a result of Turkey's violent and
hostile policies against Greeks, only around 1,800 Greeks reside in Istanbul, a
city built by Greeks.
Turkey's aggression and atrocities have cost countless lives and dreadful human
suffering. As long as the West continues enabling Turkey's systematic violations
of human rights and international law, stability and peace will remain a distant
dream in the region.
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the
Gatestone Institute.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Ramadan: A Time to Celebrate Murder, Bloodshed, and
Slavery?
Raymond Ibrahim/April 27/2022
During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Muslims fast, pray, engage in acts of
piety and charity, and reminisce over warfare and bloodshed in the name of
Islam.
Virtually every Ramadan features various Islamic authorities, personages, and/or
institutes reminding Muslims to take pride in and celebrate various historic
battles between Muslims and non-Muslims, or “infidels” (as in this hour long
televised special). Among other things, such victories are meant to demonstrate
the power, and thus truth, of Islam.
This alone should underscore Islam’s innate militancy in comparison to other
religions. It further suggests that Islam is a worldly religion, one that takes
pride and finds validation in something as corporeal and temporal as victory in
warfare (with all the attendant collection of booty and slaves that entails).
By way of analogy, and to better appreciate Ramadan-time celebrations of jihad,
imagine Christians gathered together in church during Christmas or Easter. Then,
the officiating pastor eulogizes the bloody military conquests Christians had
over non-Christians during Christmas or Easter—even as the congregants cheer or
at least feel deep pride in their Christian faith.
Not only is such a scenario exceedingly difficult to imagine—a reflection of how
utterly different Christianity and Islam are from one another—but many of
today’s Christians have become so anti-war as to characterize even self-defense
as “un-Christian.” That, at least, is what the head of the Catholic Church, Pope
Francis, seems to think: recently, while condemning war, he went so far as also
to condemn Just War, the idea that war is legitimate when waged for just reasons
(self-defense, liberating conquered peoples or territory, etc.)
Hence the double irony: most of the wars that took place on, and which Muslims
celebrate every, Ramadan had nothing to do with just war, and were in fact
aggressive and imperialistic in nature.
An article by the popular website AboutIslam.net makes all this clear. Titled,
“7 Remarkable Islamic Victories That Took Place in Ramadan,” it opens by saying,
“Ramadan is a special month that’s full of blessings for the Muslim Ummah. It is
not only famous for fasting and charity, but also for great Islamic victories
that changed the world.”
Examining the list, however, there is no question that at least five of the
seven military episodes it mentions—the battle of Badr and the conquests of
Mecca, Spain, Crimea, and Nubia—were unjust, meaning they had nothing to do with
Muslims engaging in self-defense or liberating their conquered territories and
everything to do with Muslims waging unprovoked wars of conquest in search of
plunder.
For example, although much extolled in Islamic historiography for being Islam’s
first major victory over infidels, when stripped of its hagiographical veneer,
the battle of Badr (624 AD) appears to have been little more than a caravan
raid, driven by lust for booty.
Similarly, Muslims were the aggressors in the various conquests highlighted by
AboutIslam.net for taking place on Ramadan. During these conquests, Muslims
invaded non-Muslim territories, butchered and enslaved their inhabitants, and
appropriated their lands—and for no other reason, and under no other logic, than
that they were “infidels,” non-Muslims.
The eighth century invasion and subsequent conquest of Spain, for instance,
featured hordes of invading Muslims slaughtering countless thousands of
Christians and torching their churches (in one notable incident in Cordoba, the
Muslims managed to kill two birds with one stone when they torched a church with
its inhabitants trapped inside).
Same with the Crimea. Originally inhabited by Slavic peoples, Muslims—Turks and
Tatars—brutally conquered it in the fifteenth century and turned it into an
emporium of white flesh. An estimated three million Slavs—Poles, Lithuanians,
Russians, and Ukrainians—were enslaved and, according to a contemporary
chronicle, sold “like sheep” between 1450 and 1783.
This is what Muslims are supposed to remember and celebrate during their holy
month—during their equivalent of a “Christmas” or “Easter” season: the
unprovoked invasions and bloody subjugations their ancestors undertook in the
name of Islam against people whose only “crime” was to be non-Muslims. (Little
wonder that, so riled, Muslims not infrequently murderously assault infidels in
their midst during Ramadan.)
Incidentally, taking pride in Islamic violence is not limited to “radical”
sheikhs or websites; it is quite mainstream. Thus, not only is the popular
English language website, AboutIslam.net, considered “moderate” and meant to put
a good face on Islam before infidels; the aforementioned article celebrating
seven battles/conquests during Ramadan was published by the website’s “Family &
Life” team.
Before closing, and lest Muslims truly believe that Ramadan is exclusively a
month of victorious jihads, let it be noted that Muslims also lost a fair bit of
military engagements during their holy month—the pivotal Battle of Tours (732),
when outnumbered Franks halted Islam’s advance into Europe, being just one of
the more memorable.
*Raymond Ibrahim is author of the new book, Defenders of the West: The Christian
Heroes Who Stood Against Islam.